Potter composes picture and prose with a wink and a twinkling smile. Her characters may be anatomically identical to their creature counterparts, but they are beset by the aspirations, vexations and petty snobberies of human readers. While Potter’s beautifully observed watercolour illustrations are rightly celebrated, much of the pleasure of reading and being read her books lies in the playful rhythm of her language.īorn in 1866 in London (a city she loathed, but which, alas, remained her home until her forties) Potter authored the tales of Peter Rabbit, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Jeremy Fisher and friends, which spoke knowingly to adults and children alike. Did you know that in the Netherlands, Jemima Puddle-Duck is called Kwakkel Waggel-Eend? On the basis of that name alone, I feel Beatrix Potter’s pitter-pattery, lippety-loppety prose would translate excellently into Dutch.
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