Merry, merry, and jingle those bells!

Most kids will say that presents are the best part of Christmas, but our mischievous friend Peter Rabbit begs to differ. While he loves presents, what he most looks forward to is all the food!

Luckily, there are many tasty treats to munch on in his advent storybook, Peter Rabbit: Christmas is Coming (Puffin Books, 2020). Written by Rachel Boden and illustrated by Neil Faulkner, this Beatrix Potter inspired delight is the perfect warm and cozy read for families to share as they count down to the big holiday.

The treasury features 25 stories — one for each day of Advent + one for Christmas Day — paired with fun, easy “Christmassy” things to do or make suitable for kids 4+. The ‘stories’ are interlinked, so they can also be enjoyed by independent readers as one long chapter book. This will especially appeal to kids already familiar with the characters in the Peter Rabbit little books, since they feature in longer narratives.

In addition to Peter, his mum Mrs. Rabbit, and his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, Peter’s cousin Benjamin Bunny plays a large role in all the action. When you have an enthusiastic partner in crime, almost anything can happen!

In the first story, Peter and Benjamin ‘argue’ over what is truly the best part of Christmas. Benjamin says presents (he wants a bouncy ball), while Peter is adamant about edibles:

I want roasted chestnuts and potatoes and parsnips and carrots and mince pies and cake and . . .

While this spirited sparring is going on, they make their way to Mr. McGregor’s garden (will they ever learn?), where they spy a row of turnips. Yes, they’re hard to dig up and heavy to carry — but Peter decides it’s worth the trouble since his mother could make a nice turnip soup.

After checking that the coast is clear (cat and Mr. M nowhere in sight), they furiously dig and dig and then tug, tug, tug at the turnip’s leaves. The turnip simply won’t budge. They keep tugging, unaware that the cat is sneaking up from behind.

Suddenly the cat springs at them, the turnip shoots up into the air, (flying over Peter and Benjamin), then hits the cat in the face. Well, they got their turnip — but how will they get it home?

Each day there’s a new adventure as they participate in traditional holiday preparations and activities: getting and decorating a tree, shopping for mince pie ingredients, attending the winter show (with Peter’s sisters performing as snowflakes). Of course there are little snags to keep things interesting: Mr. Tod almost eats Flopsy for lunch while they’re picking a tree, glue spatters all over the tree while Peter and Mopsy are decorating it, Peter gets his arm stuck in the postbox after accidentally mailing Mrs. Rabbit’s grocery list, Peter and Benjamin overturn a jug of blackberry juice while dancing and singing at the show.

There’s also the rainy day when Peter and Benjamin keep spilling the mincemeat they’re stirring onto the table and hastily eat the evidence. Mrs. Rabbit has to make another batch of filling since there’s so little mincemeat left. How Peter loved baking!!

The smells! The way flour got everywhere! The taste when it came out of the oven! There was nothing better. And mince pies were very festive . . . he sighed with happiness.

Nothing (not even stomach aches) can dampen the rabbits’ festive mood as they bask in the wonder and magic of snow — there’s ice skating, sledging (with Mrs. Rabbit’s tea tray), snowball fights and making a big snow bunny. One can work up quite an appetite playing out in the snow every day; luckily there’s always a comforting bowl of vegetable stew, homemade soup, herbal tea or berry juice to keep them fortified.

They also manage to find the time to write Christmas cards, help Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle deliver hers, and of course write letters to Father Christmas. Peter asks for a toy in addition to radishes and lettuce. Then they go carol singing with Mr. Jeremy Fisher, who’s leading a choir of woodland creatures through the woods by lantern light. Enchanting!

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is so kind and helpful, removing blackberry juice stains from Peter’s blue jacket and teaching him how to embroider handkerchiefs for his mum’s Christmas gift (he pricks his paws one too many times). In exchange, Peter agrees to help her deliver clean laundry to her customers.

On heavy snow days, Peter’s family hunkers down in their burrow painting pine cone decorations, making up plays, or playing one of their favorite games — ‘Taking Lettuces from Mr. McGregor’s Garden.’ There’s sprout soup for lunch and rosemary tea by the fire. 🙂

On a clear day, Peter and his sisters venture outdoors for a game of rabbit cricket, which doesn’t last long because Peter is hungry. Despite everyone warning him not to, he heads over to Mr. McGregor’s garden again in search of sprouts. He clears enough snow away to unearth a row of sprouts and fills his pockets. Another tasty soup coming right up! But then he spots Mr. McGregor, grumbling and waving a spade; luckily Peter escapes just in time as Mr. McGregor stops to sneeze. A very close call!

With only a few days until Christmas, Peter keeps busy making acorn shell necklaces as gifts for Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail. He also procures a red bouncy ball from Jeremy Fisher for Benjamin. Day before Christmas Eve, Peter goes round to Benjamin’s and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s to collect the presents he’d made. He polishes off two breakfasts and some fortifying broad-bean casserole in the process, before narrowly escaping the jaws of Mr. Tod on his way home.

Christmas Eve, Peter and his sisters wrap their gifts, help Mrs. Rabbit make plum pudding, read a story, hang their stockings, and put out milk and carrots for Father Christmas and his reindeer.

And then it’s finally Christmas Day! Peter tips the contents of his stocking onto his bed. He scarfs up the nuts, berries and gingerbread in a flash. After breakfast Benjamin and Mr. Bunny arrive, bearing a gift and some figgy pudding. Then they all open their gifts; Mrs. Rabbit is thrilled with the embroidered handkerchiefs from Peter. Surrounded by the bunnies he loves most in all the world, Peter declares it the most wonderful Christmas he’s ever had.

Christmas is Coming is infinitely appealing with its ability to bring out the child in all of us. Rachel Boden’s stories have a gentle, nostalgic charm about them — comforting, joyful, and reassuring without being overly sentimental. There’s steady action and humor to keep kids engaged, and she provides new insight into the personalities of several of our favorite characters. Who knew Jeremy Fisher was so musical or benevolent? And it was nice to observe Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s patience and resourcefulness.

Though these anthropomorphized characters are mostly sweetness and light, Boden, like Potter, reminds us that there’s always an element of danger in the natural world via villains like Mr. Tod and Tommy Brock. The vulnerability of rabbits makes them all the more endearing.

Neil Faulkner’s Potteresque illustrations beautifully capture eventful lives in the burrow and surrounding woods. Peter and Benjamin are appropriately rascally, while Jemima Puddle-Duck’s four fluffy ducklings are simply adorable (they ice skate on their webbed feet!). I especially like the spread showing Ginger and Pickles’s shop. 🙂

The accompanying activities will keep kids busy and entertained; there are simple instructions for making snowflake ornaments, Christmas cards, rabbit bookmarks, collages, marzipan snow bunnies, holly wrapping paper, and pine-cone robins, to name a few. Of course there’s a recipe for mince pies!

Tucked in with the holly and ivy, fireside games, warm bowls of pea soup and endless fun are generous servings of love, family closeness, doing good for others, contagious excitement, and the true spirit of the holidays set in a peaceable kingdom where different animal species live in harmony.

Christmas is Coming is a book to hug, share, and reread every year, a wonderful keepsake for Beatrix Potter fans of all ages.

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🎄 NOM NOM CURRANT BISCUITS 🍪

Reading about Peter and Benjamin’s many escapades left all the Alphabet Soup kitchen helpers ravenous.

Since Basil and Cornelius were especially taken with Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle’s hospitality, we decided to make one of the snacks she offered Peter on one of his visits to her tiny cottage. He had gone there after staining another of his mother’s handkerchiefs, and thought she could help him find some new ones for a Christmas gift.

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle liked the idea and offered to turn some spare linen into new handkerchiefs. Peter was relieved and felt even better after being sent on his way with a currant biscuit.

Yes to currant biscuits! But did the author mean Garibaldi biscuits (which we discussed in Paddington’s Trick or Treat)? Or was she referring in more general terms to any cookie with currants in them?

We decided to make Shrewsbury biscuits, a classic British cookie often containing currants. Originally called Shrewsbury Cakes, these thin, shortbread-like biscuits are made from only a few basic ingredients: butter, sugar, flour, egg yolk, and lemon zest. They originated from the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, with a recipe first appearing in The Compleat Cook of 1658, but it’s likely they actually date back to the 1500s.

A bookseller and bakery owner named James Palin became famous for selling the biscuits in his shop, located near Shrewsbury Castle. Seems he wasn’t a baker by trade, but instead inherited the bakery from his wife’s parents. It’s speculated that the Shrewsbury Cakes sold there were made by his wife Frances Hill (according to her mother’s recipe), even though a plaque marking the location of the shop credits Palin (isn’t it always the way that men get the credit?).

In any case, I like that these biscuits were first commercially sold by a bookseller. 🙂

Most of the Shrewsbury Biscuit recipes we found online follow the same basic recipe with suggested variations (adding spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, or subbing orange zest for lemon zest, etc.). These were easy to make, the dough didn’t require refrigeration before cutting into rounds, and because we added currants instead of raisins, they weren’t overly sweet.

There’s nothing like the flavor of butter-rich lemony cookies with a nice snap and crunch. Perfectly yummy with a cup of Peter Rabbit Christmas tea or warm blackberry juice (for wee bunnies).

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PETER RABBIT: Christmas is Coming
text by Rachel Boden
illustrations by Neil Faulkner
published by Puffin Books/Penguin Random House, October 2020
Christmas Countdown Book for ages 4+, 144 pp.
*Includes Fun Activities with every story

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🎄 HOLIDAY BLOG BREAK 🥁

Time once again to turn into elves and play under the Christmas tree. Hope you have a wonderfully delicious holiday season doing whatever it is that makes you happiest. Have you been naughty or nice this year? See you in late January. 🙂

🐰 HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 🐻

🍷ALL THE BEST IN 2025! 🎉

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*Interior spreads text and illustrations copyright © 2020 by Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

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