A book based around the most popular children's author of all time? Don't mind if I do!
That is exactly what The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter are. Who is Beatrix Potter, you ask? Why, every child has heard of Peter Rabbit! That is exactly who Beatrix Potter is, the author of some of the most famous children's stories ever written.
Albert bases her stories (loosely) around events that actually occurred in Ms. Potter's life. From the history I have personally read of Beatrix it seems to me she made the personality of the character fit very well with the real woman as well.
Shy, determined, intelligent, creative. Wonderful.
In this story Beatrix is visits the lovely little town of Near Sawrey where she owns a farm that she, due to over bearing parents, doesn't get to visit very often. Ms. Potter loves her little farm and does her very best to take care of it and make it prosperous. However, every time she comes to the village, she seems to get tied up in some kind of mystery and mild mayhem. In this case it is the mystery of a baby that was left on her doorstep and no one knows who the child's parents are.
By a series of fortunate coincidences she does in the find the child's parents and the child gets the best of all worlds in the end. In the meantime Beatrix is mistakenly marked a bride, assists a friend with some much needed courage, and misplaces a duck. I do believe the part about the duck is my favorite. Anyone who has read Beatrix Potter's stories knows the tale of Jemima Puddleduck and in this book we get to explore a little further into her story as well as her furry friend's.
In all of the books Albert has done about Beatrix in her Cottage Tales series, they delve a little further into the children's stories that Potter actually wrote and it is really wonderful to add to those little stories in your head, even if it just seems like some insignificant detail.
Now, if you're looking for a fast paced, action packed book then this series would not be quite right under those per-requisites. If you want an interesting, well written, quiet yet detail orientated mystery then look no further. I would give this book, and the entire Cottage Tales series, a solid five flopsy bunnies out of five.
This book inspired me to make Shepherd's Pie.
Nothing quite says old England to me quite like Shepherd's pie. It is something that could be found in many homes as a hearty meal.
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