Customer Reviews

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (The 23 Tales, No. 2)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin is one of my favorite Beatrix Potter stories along with The Tailor of Gloucester and The Tale of Ginger and Pickles. It is the story of a rather mischievous young squirrel named Nutkin who loves to tease old Mr. Brown, the owl who lives on an island filled with nut trees. The little rythmes and verses Nutkin recites throughout the story are absolutely delightful. The illustrations are one of Ms. Potter's finest---filled with wonderful detail and color. Some might be offended by the way Nutkin is punished by old Mr. Brown---mainly by having his tail torn off, but if one thinks about it that is the way owls behave in nature. Ms. Potter never honeys things over and her tales always remain a joy to read. Children should not miss out reading this humorous tale.

The story of Squirrel Nutkin who is a very disrespectful and rude and provocative squirrel who gets taught a very tough lesson. Learning is not alway painless. Learning is not always pleasurable or fun. This is a fact of life.

The story is a tale of a curious squirrel, Nutkin, who does not follow the other squirrels' lead of providing gifts to Mr. Brown, the owl. Due to his improper manners with Mr. Brown, Nutkin finds himself in an uneasy situation. This is a good book for older readers. The illustrations also are very colorful.

Squirrel Nutkin was one of the finest and most imaginative of Ms Potter's stories and the only one I place above it is the Tale of Peter Rabbit. Nutkin is the name of a cheeky and insolent squirrel who thinks far too much of himself until he is caught by an Owl who has both patience and wisdom as he endures many insults from Nutkin. At last he reacts and it appears that it is the end for the impudent squirrel. At the last moment he escapes from the owl's home when his tail breaks in two and he scurries off to safety. He is left with a partial tail as a reminder to mind his manners in the future. An important correction is necessary regarding this owing to an error in an above review. Nutkin did NOT chew his tail off to escape and I invite the reviewer to actually read the book so she understands this important point. This is a wonderful story for young children with many inportant messages. My own children greatly enjoyed these tales when they were young and still talk about them from time to time. There is a reason why Beatrix Potter's books remain among the best selling childrens books of all time. Her stories and the lessons therein are timeless and the moral absolutes are of critical value at a time when our anything goes culture is in chaos and espouses the worst behavior possible. It is truly refreshing and hopeful that brilliant childrens tales written in 1903 still have much to teach us in 2007.

This cute little book was written and illustrated by the great Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) in 1903, the second of her many wonderful stories. This book tells the tale of Squirrel Nutkin, who refuses to show respect for an important owl, and pays the price.

Overall, I found this to be a cute story, and a lot of fun to read to my little one. The "riddles" are obvious in their answer, but still a lot of fun to read. So, as with all of Ms. Potter's works, I highly recommend this book!

In this beautifully illustrated children's tale, a lone, disrespectful, but rather smart squirrel puts an old owl's nerves to the test. In an attempt to gain favor with an owl (Mr. Brown), all the other squirrels except Mr. Nutkin bring Mr. Brown food offerings everyday in exchange for permission from him to gather nuts on his island. Mr. Nutkin brings Mr. Brown nothing but sarcastic riddles.

In the end, the Mr. Brown captures Mr. Nutkin, and when Mr. Nutkin tries to escape, his tail is cut in half. A little violent, but obviously nothing excessive.

I believe this book teaches the importance of polite manners.

Mr. Nutkin's riddles are also very thought provoking.

Darien Summers, author of The Mischievous Hare, a childrens book. The Mischievous Hare

This is a story of a naughty little squirrel name Squirrel Nutkin, who loves to tease Mr. Brown, an owl who lives on an island filled with nut trees, which fancy the other squirrels. Daily the squirrels came bringing gifts to Mr. Brown as to gain permission to harvest these nuts in return.

While they are being polite, Squirrel Nutkin is prety much very naughty. He teases him with riddles, mostly ignore by the owl but when too much is too much one day, Mr. Brown punished Nutkins by having his tail torn off!

This is a cute and enjoyable little story. It also teaches kids to not to tease people too much that they are out of line. The illustrations are beautiful. The riddles are cute. The plot and charcaters draws you in. Children would love to read or to be read to with this funny little "tail". Don't miss out inadding this book to your children's reading list.

Cute little book perfect for little hands. I opened it first and each page fell out one by one as I turned the pages. Definitely a problem with the binding. It was too inexpensive to bother returning otherwise I certainly would return.

How can one go wrong with a Beatrix Potter story and for such a great price? I picked up a bunch of these short stories to read to my youngsters while we were on vacation. No need to carry a fifty pound bag of books on the road any more. The Kindle solved the problem with flying colors. If you haven't grown up with these books you'll love reading them to your children. Mine can't get enough. Since this is a short story I'm not going to give a synopsis here but just believe me when I say you can't go wrong. If you prefer a paper copy of this story and other Beatrix Potter books I highy suggest: [...]

This book (as do all of hers) captures the imagination of children completely. They LOVE to have this story about a very naughty squirrel and very scary old owl read to them. (who knew impertinent squirrels and creepy owls were so much fun!) Her words are only a well-chosen few, which makes it easy for small children to follow, but not simplistic, so that they learn to understand sophisticated vocabulary. The few words are augmented by exquisite watercolors that tell so much more of the story, and make the children crave to hear them again and again. For instance, I'll never forget the relief and also confusion i used to feel every time he got away -- mainly because of the picture that went with it, which is still in my mind today. Oh, and, one more thing -- the reviewer below who characterized this tale as rude, violent and gory, also said this about The Tale of Jeremy Fisher: "My own favorite thing about Jeremy Fisher is that he is eaten, then spit back out because his rain gear doesn't taste good to the fish who's swallowed him! How many books do you know where the main character is eaten? Good stuff." So, Leggo, it's ok to eat frogs but not squirrels?