I was transported to another time and place. I knew where to pause for dramatic effect and how to milk the tension. All the old phrasing and pacing came back to me. I settled down, with the memories of classes past arrayed in front of me, and read Peter Rabbit, then Squirrel Nutkin out loud. To get to it, one has to go past the original Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin (1903).

The Tailor of Gloucester is the third story. This collection then lists all the stories in chronological order. It contains a lovely map of Hawkshead and Sawrey, showing where many of the stories take place, including the Tailor of Gloucester sitting next to the road to Gloucester and South Coast, with Pig Robinson. I now have a beautiful hardcover copy of Beatrix Potter’s Complete Tales. Which is my long way of saying that it is also twelve years since I last read The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). She is now in her final year of school, and has matured into a thoughtful, gracious young woman). It is twelve years since I taught my last class (I was reminded just yesterday of how that final class has grown, when one of them popped into the bookshop to buy books for her mum for Christmas. You have to read it several times to find the most dramatic way to read it out loud, in a way to keep the attention of twenty, very modern, 4 year olds. The story has plenty of drama and suspense, but it isn’t immediately apparent. The first time I tried to read one aloud, I stumbled with the phrasing and pacing of Potter’s writing. I had to wait until my early childhood teaching years to discover them. I confess that I did not read any of the Peter Rabbit stories when I was a child. It led me straight into the delightful and utterly charming arms of Beatrix Potter. It made me search my shelves for something Christmassy that I hadn’t read yet. Feeling very grateful, right now, that Tarissa the Bookcase is hosting A Literary Christmas this year.

Beatrix potter the tailor of