Download Beatrix Potter And The Unfortunate Tale Of A Borrowed Guinea Pig Illustrated By Deborah Hopkinson Presented In Text
this delightful romp, the early life of Beatrix Potter, author and illustrator of the beloved The Tale of Peter Rabbit, comes to life through beautiful watercolor illustrations and very Potteresque prose in Beatrix Potter amp the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig.
We are introduced to Beatrix Potter and her menagerie of pets when she is a young girl whose writing and drawing skills are blossoming.
When she asks her nextdoor neighbor to borrow a guinea pig for a model, Miss Paget is most flattered when she chooses the most regal of her pigs, “Queen Elizabeth”.
With a promise to return Queen Elizabeth unharmed in the morning, Beatrix sets off to paint one of her most famous pieces of art.
Disaster strikes when Beatrix gets distracted from her work and the young girl must break the news to her kindly neighbor, The tale comes to a close with a cheeky reminder to readers of what to do if you lend out a pet youll have to read the book to read the authors advice.
Beatrix Potter amp the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig is written by Deborah Hopkinson who chose to write in a style similar to Beatrix Potter, known for developing ideas for stories from picture letters.
The story itself contains some snippets of information about Beatrix Potters early life, While it is never explicitly mentioned, the author cleverly drops hints as to Ms, Potters privileged background. We learn that Beatrix Potter had an unusual menagerie of pets including lizards, snakes, rabbits, hedgehogs, ducks, and birds who often meet with tragic endings.
You can imagine the fate of the guinea pig, Im sure, At the back of the book, the reader is treated to the story behind a painting of a guinea pig by Beatrix Potter which sold for,in.
The watercolor illustrations by Charlotte Voake are inspired by Beatrix Potters own style and are the highlight of the book, The combination of fullpage scenes depicting life atBolton Gardens in London, as well as the smaller pictures of Ms, Potters many animals, and the recreations of the picture letters illustrated by Potter herself really help to bring the story alive, Worthy of mention are the sturdy book cover and thick, tearresistant pages making the book itself likely to withstand repeated pageturning,
I must admit that I have mixed feelings about the book, Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation of the book i, e. , the gorgeous illustrations and the writing style of the book as well as the story itself, but after reading the P, S. Authors Note, I was disappointed, You see, the author changed Potters age fromto perhaps aroundI dont believe her age is mentioned in the story, That really changed things for me, I can understand that the intent was to tell the mostly true story about this famous painting which sold for,but when I read that she actually wasnt a little girl but a grown woman well I went “Oh.
” I felt misled. If I was reading the book to a child, I would just read the story and not share that piece of information with them.
My Bottom Line: Overall, Beatrix Potter amp the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig is a lighthearted, whimsyfilled story using Beatrix Potters classic storytelling prose and realist style of watercolor painting to capture the imagination of young readers.
I recommend this book for children agestoand I think it would make a great readaloud book for classroom teachers or school librarians.
This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for my honest review, All opinions expressed are my own, Whimsical and quirky tale a put potter and the factionalized story of her involvement in the accidental death of her neighbor's guinea pig which she borrowed to draw.
Voake's watercolors are charming. If you're looking for a story with a happy ending, this isn't the right picture book for you, The moral of thisthcentury tale: don't lend your beloved pets to irresponsible children or Beatrix Potter because she accidentally kills guinea pigs, newts, and even snails.
And if you do, just make sure you get a picture from them in case they become very famous,
I gather they thought this was a cute story but it is an illustrated tale of killing a guinea pig by neglect.
I found it heartless and offbase, This was classified as biography at my library, . . I don't know if I'd do full on biography or based on a true story because a LOT of liberties were taken, but it walks that line.
Visually playful, full of animals, and a little bit weird, just like Beatrix Potter, I think it's a tribute she'd be proud of, Great back matter, I loved learning about her journals, This is an interesting biographical tale from Beatrix Potter's life, It has more information about her at the end, Hopkinson, Deborah Beatrix Potter amp the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig, illustrated by Charlotte Voake, PICTURE BOOK. Schwartz amp Wade Random House,, Content: PG.
Even as a child, Beatrix Potter adored animals and had a menagerie full of pets all of whom she loved to paint pictures of and write about.
Unfortunately, she wasn't always successful at keeping her beloveds or her friends' beloveds alive, In this book, snippets from her journals detail a few of her deadlier disasters, The entries are interspersed with Potteresque pictures and light narration from the author,
I adored the illustrations in this story but, to be honest, I found the rest of the book horrifying, Reading about so many sweet, defenseless pets' deaths made me feel sad and sorry and a little bit sick, The lighthearted, humorous narration felt atodds with the depressing content, as if it were belittling the genuine sadness that comes with losing a pet.
The first moral of the story that it's not a good idea to loan your pet to someone is often true, The second moral that if you do loan a pet to a friend, always have the friend draw/paint a picture of it so you can sell it for heaps of money several decades later lacks empathy, and the idea that a pet's death is fine as long as you get some money out of it is not the nicest of lessons to share with young children.
I understand that much of it was to be tongueincheek, but it definitely did not work for me,
Note: While this book is based on details from Potter's own life, Hopkinson has taken some liberties with a
few elements, as explained in the author's note at the back of the book.
For example, the guinea pig incident actually occurred when Potter was an adult, not a young child as the text implied,
EL KNOT RECOMMENDED, er: Caryn
sitelink blogspot. com Published in time for theth anniversary of her birth, this story a young Beatrix Potter, creator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and many other classic childrens books.
Master of the historical fiction picture book, Hopkinson takes readers back to Victorian England and the home of budding young artist and animal lover Beatrix Potter.
When Beatrix brings home her neighbors pet guinea pig so that she can practice painting it, well, . . it dies! Now what
Written in the form of a “picture letter,” this charming, hilarious, and mostly true tale is a wonderful introduction to a beloved author/illustrator.
An author's note includes photographs and more information about Beatrix Potter's life and work,
"A charming, delightful homage, " Kirkus s, Starred
From the Hardcover edition, I like this book
I like this book because it is really funny, I also really like guinea pigs, so I was happy to have a book about a guinea pig, From anyo reader Growing up with Beatrix Potter books, it was interesting to find out more about the inspiration behind the characters in her books.
Deborah Hopkinson successfully creates a relatable story with the use of Beatrix's forgetfulness and love of animals, Charlotte Voake's watercolor illustrations provided an innocent, youthful feel, Since the language in Beatrix's journal entries contrasted with the more lighthearted tone running through the story line, the story flow was interrupted somewhat near the beginning.
However, once I got past that the entries, I was drawn into the story completely and everything moved forward, This would be a nice feature piece for a classroom author study paired with Beatrix Potter's books and writing assignments of journal entries and inspirational stories.
Children could also start research projects related to their favorite authors and write a "ficinformational" stories such as this one,
I received a review copy of this book from Random House Children's Books in exchange for an honest review, .