As a certified bookworm myself, I want my own children to grow up loving books and to develop a lifelong habit of reading. During my research for good children’s books in both print and audio versions for our preschooler, I came upon this website, www.thestoryhome.com, which had wonderful audio stories for kids. Our son Tim, who was 3 years old at that time, instantly took a liking to several of the audio stories featured on The Story Home.

One of these stories was “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter, a well-known, much-loved children’s classic, originally published over 100 years ago in 1902. Up to this day, he loves listening to the audio version of the story, and I vowed to get a printed version of the book as well. Luckily, I was able to find a good second-hand copy at Books for Less.

Peter is one among four siblings, who, incidentally, had some rather unusual names compared to him:
Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail. Beatrix Potter’s story is told in a lovely countryside setting, and her words are able to stir up the imagination in a way that even adult readers will enjoy.

I guess my son can relate a bit to Peter, who is described in the book as “very naughty,” and gets into all sorts of mischief in Mr. McGregor’s garden (which is where his mother told him NOT to go!). Like Peter, Tim’s natural curiosity and innate strong will oftentimes lands him into all sorts of fixes, and he has been known to do the exact opposite of what I tell him to (so I can relate to Peter Rabbit’s mother, too!)

I personally like the illustrations and the use of such words and phrases like “don’t get into mischief” (when Peter’s mother leaves him and his siblings to go to the baker’s),”gave himself up for lost,” “implored him to exert himself,” “presently,” and, one of my most favourite phrases: “tried to put his foot upon Peter.” Who uses words like these nowadays?

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