Both Peter Rabbit books are 64 pages, hard-bound, sturdy, and beautifully illustrated. These books were originally written for the Henry Altemus Company 90 years ago! Today they are public domain and it is lovely to be able to read the rich literature of long ago. The first book in the series, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, is a similar to the version of the famously popular British children's book published by Frederick Warne & Co. How that all transpired is a tale in itself!
There are ten books in the Peter Rabbit Series. Each story is a separate adventure, however Peter Rabbit on the Farm does preface the story by mentioning another adventure that I believe happens in How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea-- most likely to pique your interest in the series. And unlike many books of that time, Peter Rabbit on the Farm and Peter Rabbit's Birthday do not contain necessarily a moral of the story or harsh consequences for bad behavior, but detail Peter Rabbit's adventure for the day-- which all begin because Peter goes off, which he knows he is not supposed to do. I do think they lend a great opportunity to talk about obedience, or in this case- Peter's disobedience.
In Peter Rabbit on the Farm, Peter heads to Mr. McGregor's farm to help Little Goosie Poosie figure out why there is no water in their pond. Peter's quick wits figures it out and ends up staying a while visiting his other friends. However, Peter soon realizes he must return home "as there is no telling what will happen next," but trying to get home brings another adventure his way!
Peter Rabbit's Birthday shares Peter's adventures in going out to invite all his friends to his birthday party, but he soon looses track of time when he comes across a man with a hand-organ and a monkey. Thankfully he meets a young boy named Bobby who takes him home where he enjoys his birthday celebration.
Kinder Cottage Publishing has kept the original vintage style illustrations, however they did make some edits to the text. I am not sure how many words were "modernized," but I was made aware that they changed the word velocipede to mean bicycle. Granted I would have had to look up the word, velocipede, but I do wish the original wording would have stayed intact. "Good" literature with rich vocabulary is becoming more of a rarity nowadays.
Nonetheless, we did enjoy reading about Peter Rabbit's mischievous ways! I read them several times throughout our review period. My 6 and 3 year old seemed to enjoy the stories; although, I think I may have gotten winded reading the book in one sitting a few times! My 6 year old and I especially enjoyed the cute character names we met in the books such as, Little Goosie Poosie, Daddy Gander, Ducky Daddles, and Cousin Bunnie Bunniekin. I even had my son read Peter Rabbit at the Farm for his daily reading time; it wasn't easy for him, but he made it through by reading about five pages each day. It was quite an accomplishment and I was very proud of him! His favorite part of the book was when Peter Rabbit fell into the pond and then hid behind some bushes while his coat was hanging to dry because he had no other clothes to wear!
If you are interested in reading more reviews, click below! If you decide you'd like to have these on your bookshelves at home, get a 20% discount by using coupon code, TOS, at checkout!
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