Beatrix Potter And The Sale Of Peter Rabbit

Children have been reading and enjoying Beatrix Potter books since 1902. You might recognize some of the more popular stories such as Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny. Most of her other stories utilize a similar template based on animal characters interacting as human beings which have drawn comparisons to Aesop?s fables. Potter, however, had a very specific and somewhat distinct vision for her own books.

Beatrix Potter managed all of her own illustrations for the books she published. The drawings, both black and white and in color, were considered very accurate with regard to the level of detail given the animals. The pictures sometimes even commanded more attention than the stories themselves.

She would often use the details of her own personal life as themes or backdrops for her stories. For instance, the plot in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles where the main characters were dealing with profit margins and other business decisions came from the fact that Beatrix was dealing with the very same issues in getting her books advertised and sold. The drawings would be based upon her surroundings; pets became characters and nearby gardens became settings.

Potter also frequently used recurring characters in many of her stories. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies featured her most popular character Peter Rabbit, but not as a primary character. Peter Rabbit really only had a cameo. Benjamin Bunny, who was the cousin of Peter Rabbit, also played the title character in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. This was an effective form of cross promotion, however Potter did do this in every story, as evidenced in The Tale of Pigling Bland.

Potter?s books were influential enough that the premise of one of her stories was borrowed by the author of the popular Winnie the Pooh stories. In Potter?s story an animal eats himself stuck. Later, a version of this can be seen as clearly similar in a Winnie the Pooh book. No less than Walt Disney himself also took interest in Potter?s writing. He had purchased the rights to both The Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh, however when he made an offer to Potter, she declined, choosing to remain in absolute control of her works.

It is easy to see Beatrix Potter books follow a formula. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Pigling Bland, and The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies for instance show an adherence to title patterns. Anthropomorphic characters and the cross advertising technique of using recurring characters also show a carefully planned formula to develop a marketable product conceived and controlled by Beatrix Potter herself.

By: Clifford Woodard

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There are common themes in many Beatrix Potter books. For example; The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, and The Tale of Pigling Bland among most of her other books follow an identical title formula. The characters were always animals acting completely human. Additionally, many of the books have recurring characters. Though she would eventually grow tired of writing children?s tales, she purposefully and decidedly developed and sustained this formula almost without fail throughout her career.