The Country Artist : A Story about Beatrix Potter

A biography of the English author and illustrator who grew up during the Victorian era and whose detailed drawings of plants and animals found their way into her famous picture books

Grade 3-6-- In six short chapters, Collins details Potter's life with a minimal amount of fictionalizing. Because there is no bibliography, it is impossible to know if Collins' research included Potter's childhood journals, decoded and published in 1966. However, such details as the relationship that the young Potter had with the family servants and what she ate for her meals are certainly the stuff of such journals. The book draws a fairly clear portrait of Potter's stuffy Victorian family, but in its brevity and easy-to-read format, Potter's timid, dutiful personality emerges only slightly. Patricia Frevert's Beatrix Potter: Children's Storyteller (Creative Ed., 1981) is aimed at older readers. The two biographies by Margaret Lane-- The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1968) and The Magic Years of Beatrix Potter (1978)--and Ulla Parker's Cousin Beatie (1981, all Warne) are all out of print. The book is illustrated with black-and-white drawings, some of which appear to be taken from photographs. A list of Potter's books is appended. --Patricia Homer, Lowville Academy, NY
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Victorian childhood and upbringing of Beatrix Potter is potentially of much interest to middle-graders who were nourished in their early years by her Peter Rabbit stories. Because she and her family were hoarders, some of the earliest sketchbooks, letters, photographs and Potter's famous coded diaries are extant; as the recent Pierpont Morgan Library exhibition revealed, much is known of the influences on her life. Unfortunately, this account from the Creative Minds series relies heavily--and unnecessarily--on fictionalized dialogue and situations. Collins does not portray what was evidently an engaging relationship between the very young Beatrix and her father, emphasizing instead her repressive childhood (which has been proven, in recent years, more myth than reality). There is scant mention of some of the artist's commercial ventures or her refusal to alter the size of her books. Despite handsome pencil drawings, this account is a disappointment. Ages 9-11.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.