“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you. Mine took me here. Where I belong.” ~ Beatrix Potter

Spring is Beatrix Potter time.

Every year as Easter rolls around, I enjoy rereading some of her Peter Rabbit tales and looking for new Potter-related books to add to my growing collection. Happily, there’s always more to learn about this remarkable woman, the world she created via her imagination, and the beautiful countryside she worked so hard to preserve for future generations.

Recently I stumbled upon a charming mini book, the latest title in the popular “V&A Introduces” series that celebrates icons in the world of art and design in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Beatrix Potter: Artist, Conservationist, Pioneer by Katie Woolley and Ginnie Hsu (Puffins Books, 2022), is a beautifully illustrated introduction to Potter’s life and accomplishments that includes original photographs and fascinating backstories to several of her most beloved tales.

Carefully curated facts are presented in twelve sections, giving readers a good sense of how unique Beatrix was as a fully self-realized creative who defied societal convention and attained financial independence:

• Young Beatrice
• Writing and Drawing
• Escape to the Country
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• The Lake District
• The Tailor of Gloucester
• The Businesswoman
• Hill Top Farm
• Love & Marriage
• The National Trust
• Country Living
• A Lasting Legacy

Peter Rabbit fans will enjoy learning how Beatrix became a master storyteller. As was typical for a girl from a wealthy Victorian family, she was looked after by a nanny and had lessons with a governess. She inherited a love of art from her parents, got lost in stories, and practiced drawing characters from the books she read.

Both she and her brother Bertram loved animals and spent many happy hours studying and sketching the animals they snuck into their nursery (mice, frogs, lizards, even a bat). While on holiday with their parents in the Lake District, they loved exploring the countryside and drawing the flora, fauna, surrounding hills and valleys.

When Bertie was away at school, an often lonely Beatrix filled her sketchbooks with drawings of her pets, as well as plants and other animals around her. She practiced over and over until each drawing was perfect. Recognizing her artistic talent, her parents arranged for art lessons, but Beatrix didn’t like them, preferring to paint in her own way. By the age of nine she was an accomplished artist, and also loving to write, created her own code at age 14 to record her observations in a secret journal.

Beatrix took her two favorite pet rabbits, Mr Benjamin Bouncer and Peter Piper, with her everywhere. The story of how she began writing illustrated letters about Peter to her former governess’s son Noel is well-known. Noel and his family instantly fell in love with Peter Rabbit and his friends, so Beatrix sent more story letters to all the Moore children.

Beatrix eventually turned Peter’s tale into a book. After being rejected by six publishers, she self-published 250 copies which were so popular with family and friends that she had to print an additional 200 copies. Not long afterwards, Frederick Warne & Co. agreed to publish the book if Beatrix re-illustrated the drawings in color. It came out in 1902, sold for a shilling, and marked the beginning of her lucrative career as an author-illustrator.

Potter continued to write at least one story a year for the next eleven years. All were inspired by her deep love of nature and the great outdoors. By 1912, however, she grew tired of writing about well behaved people and featured two villains, fearsome Mr Tod and grumpy Tommy Brock.

But she didn’t stop at just writing stories. Beatrix flexed her business acumen to ensure the world knew she was the person behind Peter Rabbit. She developed character-related merchandise, i.e., “side-shows”: toys, games, wallpaper, playing cards, tea sets, biscuit tins, etc. She created and patented a Peter Rabbit doll (she used hairs pulled from a brush for his whiskers).

With book proceeds, Beatrix purchased Hill Top Farm and moved to the Lake District, where, together with her shepherd Tom Storey, bred and raised a large herd of 1000+ Herdwick sheep, a special breed that had been in the Lake District for centuries.

Then, when she saw how the landscape was changing with trees being cut down, and houses, roads and railways being built, she began to buy land and farms to protect the countryside from further development. In all, she purchased 15 farms and 4,000 acres that she ultimately donated to the National Trust.

As she grew older, Beatrix stopped drawing and painting due to failing eyesight. As a devoted country wife, passionate and respected farmer and ardent conservationist, Beatrix continued to work hard to protect the land, animals, and people she loved.

When the Spanish flu swept through the country in 1919, she arranged for a nurse to provide care for families in her village affected by the disease (the nurse lived rent-free in a cottage on land Beatrix owned). She welcomed visitors from all over the world to enjoy the Lakes, and every summer, Girl Guides camped on her farmland.

Today, the V&A Museum holds many of Potter’s letters, sketches, first editions and other items. One of the tidbits I enjoyed most from this little book was learning that The Tailor of Gloucester was actually based on the true story of John Prichard, who was making a waistcoat for the town mayor.

After leaving it on a workbench for the night, he awoke the next morning to discover it had been stitched together as he slept. Were fairies responsible? Prichard thought so (apparently, two of John’s apprentices had finished it). In her story, Beatrix turned the apprentices into mice, and modeled the waistcoat after one she had seen at the V&A (then the South Kensington Museum). It’s still there today!

I love Ginnie Hsu’s colorful, whimsical illustrations and how photos and snippets of information are laid out on each page — a fun, inviting, and aesthetically pleasing scrapbook-like reading experience for Potter fans old and new.

Our friend Peter Rabbit has been around for over 100 years, and Beatrix’s books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide. I wonder if she ever imagined her books would be loved by so many for so long?

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🐰☕️ TEA AND TREATS 🥕🍎

As you can imagine, Peter Rabbit is very busy this time of year, so we were especially honored when he agreed to drop by for a little visit.

Basil, Cornelius, and Chef Hoppy baked three treats to celebrate the arrival of our somewhat naughty, whiskered guest. To prevent Peter from straying into Mr McGregor’s garden again, Basil suggested Carrot Apple Bread. Hoppy and Cornelius grated the carrots and apples (not an easy task with paws) and somehow managed to avoid eating any of it before adding it to the batter.

This yummy quick bread is an easy, no-mixer recipe, and goes from bowl to oven in minutes. It’s like carrot cake but without the guilt, and the addition of grated apples keeps it nice and moist (the recipe can be found online here). Best of all, Peter loved it!

In honor of Beatrix’s love of wildflowers, we whipped up a batch of Mini Cream Cheese-Jam Flower Tarts. These were fun to make with a package of refrigerated pie dough and a mini muffin pan. We used raspberry jam and on Paddington’s insistence, marmalade — to top off the cream cheese filling.

Check out this video to see how quickly these cute tarts come together (recipe is here):

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Finally, Mr Cornelius loved hearing the story about John Prichard and the “fairies” who finished stitching his waistcoat so much that he wanted to bake some Fairy Shortbread Bites. Just three main ingredients — butter, sugar, and flour — sooooo good! It’s the perfect sized buttery treat for hungry bunnies, good little bears and tailor mice!. 🙂 Pop one into your mouth right now!

Any of these treats would be a nice addition to your Easter brunch or afternoon tea table. We like how easy they are to make and know you will enjoy them!

🐥 Happy Easter to you from all of us!! 🌹

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V&A INTRODUCES Beatrix Potter: Artist, Conservationist, Pioneer
written by Katie Woolley
illustrated by Ginnie Hsu
published by V&A/Puffin Books, March 2022
Picture Book Biography for ages 5+, 32 pp.

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*Interior spreads text and illustrations copyright © 2022 Victoria & Albert Museum, London. All rights reserved.

**Some of the Potter photos in this post do not appear in the book.

***Copyright © 2024 Jama Rattigan of Jama’s Alphabet Soup. All rights reserved.