The Tale of Peter Rabbit

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Author: Beatrix Potter

Illustrator: Beatrix Potter

Genre: Fantasy and Science Fiction

Grade Level: K to 5^th grade

Oh, Peter! He goes to quite a scary adventure. The story starts with Peter and his siblings Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail on their way to pick up some food for supper. Their mother warns them that they can go anywhere except “Mr. McGregor’s garden.” But young Peter with his blue jacket runs inside Mr. McGregor farm so he could eat all the delicious vegetables. He eats so much that he gets a stomach ache. He goes looking for parsley to settle his stomach when he sees Mr. McGregor sowing the field. Mr. McGregor starts chasing Peter with a rake shouting “Stop thief.” Frightened Peter runs on his four legs completely forgetting that there is a gooseberry net. Peter sheds big tears as his button of the jacket is caught on the net. Mr. McGregor walks in with the sieve to catch Peter. Peter wriggles out of the jacket and runs off to hide inside the watering can that is filled with water. Mr. McGregor looks around his tool sheds looking under flower pots. Peter sneezes that gives away his hiding spot and Mr. McGregor quickly runs after him. Peter jumps out of the window; breaking three of Mr. McGregor flower pot. This stops Mr. McGregor from chasing him and moves on to farming. Peter, however, frightened and exhausted cries to go home. He sees a cat by the pond and makes smart decision not to go near it. He goes back to the farm and sees a gate that he came through. But there is Mr. McGregor working on the farm. Peter quietly walks his way through the farm and manages to escape leaving behind his shoes and blue jacket. When he finally gets home, he falls asleep right away near his mother who ponders where his clothes had gone. Peter falls ill so his mother gives him a spoonful of chamomile tea while his siblings enjoy the food that their mother cooked.

The book is quite small; small and light enough to take it anywhere. It has about 60 pages but the story is short enough to read quite quickly. The illustration is quite delicate and has a border. Although it is small, we can see the detailed shade of colors. The book is divided into words and illustration. The illustration is either on the right or left but is always accompanied by the words on the page beside it.

Thoughts:

I remember reading this book when I was young. In fact, I have the whole set of the tales of by Beatrix Potter. This book is short and sweet so it is easy to read to the children. Students who are on Kindergarten would definitely love this book as well as the older grades. I can use this book to promote student higher thinking. I can ask them to questions like "what do you think happen to Peter next?".An excellent book.