The Tale of Peter Rabbit: a five-minute bedtime book, and where to see Beatrix Potter’s drawings

The shortest book in our series — and perhaps the best loved by small children anywhere. The Tale of Peter Rabbit takes five minutes to read, and it is the perfect book for the very end of the evening, when there is no energy left for a long chapter. Naughty Peter sneaks into Mr McGregor’s garden for lettuces and radishes, loses his blue jacket and barely escapes. That’s all. But behind that simplicity is a genuine English watercolour, and a story by a woman who changed the children’s book forever.

An extract

The opening is known by heart in every English home:

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“Once upon a time there were four little Rabbits, and their names were — Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail, and Peter.”

And here is Mrs Rabbit’s warning, where all the trouble — and all the book’s dark humour — begins: “don’t go into Mr. McGregor’s garden: your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor.”

Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). The text is in the public domain. The full text with the author’s own illustrations is free on Project Gutenberg (link below).

Why it is worth reading tonight

This is the book children learn to read on themselves. Short sentences, large pictures, no moralising — just disobedience, fear, a chase and a rescue, all in five minutes. For the very young, a first ‘scary’ story with a happy ending. For parents, a reason to look closely at Potter’s watercolours: she was also a naturalist and drew plants and animals with scientific precision.

About the author

Beatrix Potter (1866–1943) invented Peter on 4 September 1893 — in a picture-letter to five-year-old Noel Moore, her governess’s son, who was ill with scarlet fever. Publishers rejected the book, so in 1901 Potter printed it herself, in a small format: ‘little rabbits cannot afford to spend six shillings on one book.’ In October 1902 Frederick Warne published it in a run of 8,000 copies — and world fame followed. With her royalties Potter bought land in the Lake District and in the end left thousands of acres to the National Trust.

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Where to go

In London — free. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in South Kensington holds the largest collection of Potter’s drawings and watercolours (the Linder Bequest). Entry is free; it is open daily 10:00–17:45, and until 22:00 on Fridays.

In the Lake District — to the house itself. Hill Top in the village of Near Sawrey, where Potter lived and painted, now belongs to the National Trust. The house and garden are open 10:00–17:00; an adult ticket is £17 (£18.70 with Gift Aid), a child 5–17 £8.50, under-5s free. Visitors arriving by car need to book a time in advance. The garden can be seen from the lane, and the Lake District fells themselves are free and always open.

Where to get it

Free and legal. The full text with the original illustrations is on Project Gutenberg. To find it in a library near you, use the Library Hub Discover catalogue. Links below.

To buy. An English edition is in every bookshop in Britain and costs little. For the Russian translation, try the Russian-language bookshops — children’s stock at Bookashka. Check stock and price on the shop’s own site.