{"id":29801,"date":"2018-10-14T23:17:59","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T03:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29801"},"modified":"2018-10-14T23:17:59","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T03:17:59","slug":"review-of-beatrix-potter-and-the-unfortunate-tale-of-a-borrowed-guinea-pig-by-deborah-hopkinson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=29801","title":{"rendered":"Review of Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig, by Deborah Hopkinson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig<\/em><\/p>\n

By Deborah Hopkinson
\nIllustrated by Charlotte Voake<\/p>\n

Schwartz & Wade Books, New York, 2016. 40 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This charming picture book tells a slightly fictionalized account of what happened when Beatrix Potter borrowed a neighbor\u2019s prized guinea pig in order to paint it. The main fictionalization is that the author changed Beatrix Potter\u2019s age to be a child when this incident happened, rather than the 26-year-old she actually was.<\/p>\n

But the story is based on truth \u2013 Beatrix Potter kept many different animals as pets \u2013 and sad fates befell many of them. And when Beatrix borrowed a guinea pig named Queen Elizabeth from her neighbor, it did feast on blotting paper and string, writing paper and paste \u2013 and died.<\/p>\n

Deborah Hopkinson shows Beatrix giving her neighbor a painting of the guinea pig as compensation. She says she hopes she kept it because in 2011, a painting Beatrix Potter made of a guinea pig \u2013 probably painted the same year as the unfortunate borrowing \u2013 sold for more than $85,000.<\/p>\n

The book is styled as a letter to the reader, which is appropriate since Beatrix Potter\u2019s first stories appeared in letters. The words and watercolors are charming.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to draw Queen Elizabeth,\u201d declared Beatrix. \u201cShe is truly magnificent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her friend beamed. \u201cHer family is indeed impeccable. Queen Elizabeth comes from a long line of distinguished guinea pigs. She is the daughter of Titwillow the Second, and a descendant of the Sultan of Zanzibar and the Light of Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

You might well think the young ladies were discussing royalty, not rodents. In the end, Miss Paget was so flattered by Miss Potter\u2019s appreciation of the merits of Queen Elizabeth that she eagerly fetched the squealing creature.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d said Beatrix. \u201cI will return her \u2013 unharmed \u2013 in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alas, it was an empty promise.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not quite sure how Deborah Hopkinson has made a story about animals dying so utterly delightful, but she has managed it!<\/p>\n

deborahhopkinson.com<\/a>
\nrandomhousekids.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Picture_Books\/beatrix_potter.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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