As delightful and endearing as Beatrix Potter's tales, Deborah Hopkinson captures the cleverness and eccentricity of her protaganist perfectly. With adherence to researched facts and letters, as well as her own imagination, Ms. Hopkinson brings Ms. Potter's childhood to life, while Charlotte Voake illuminates animals and humans with a soft wash of humor and precision. And more, the author writes her tale in the form of a letter to readers, just as Ms. Potter did in her very first "The Tale of Peter Rabbit." This letter-story begins with a warning to the reader that sets the humorous tone. The P.S. (Author's Note) rounds out the story with photographs of Beatrix and her family, facts about her later life, and additional resources to explore. ( )

I picked this up because of Beatrix Potter, of course! It's a tale based on a story told in one of Beatrix Potter's journals, which was discovered and decoded by an engineer and drawing collector in 1966. It's also based on one of Beatrix Potter's watercolor drawings, one of a guinea pig that sold at auction in 2011 for more than $85,000. I wish that drawing had been larger, not just a tiny thumbnail image in the back of the book; it's definitely the inspiration for the guinea pig in the story, and it's quite cute as well.

The story left me feeling terrible, actually. Sure, the title should have tipped me off that it wasn't going to end well, but I always associate Beatrix Potter with loving animals and preserving nature. I didn't really need or want this story telling me all about the animals that she and her brother killed. In this case, she borrows a guinea pig of fine pedigree from a neighbor in order to draw it. When she's not there to watch it, the guinea pig eats the paper, string, and paste on her table and dies overnight. Poor baby! She gives a drawing she did of it to the owner, who was not happy. And that's the end. That might or might not be the drawing that was sold for so much money. And the story depicts Beatrix Potter as a little girl, when apparently she was twenty-six when this happened. That makes it even worse! What a sad little story. I really feel for these animals, especially the guinea pig and the baby bat and the whole family of snails.

The illustrations are pretty, and they aren't meant to be Beatrix Potter's style. But I couldn't help feel saddened by the story, despite the lovely drawings. ( )

Beatrix Potter loved animals and loved drawing them. When she borrowed her neighbors guinea pig, it died throughout the night. This book gives the reader a different look at her love of animals. ( )

There's a bit of buzz going around now about a newly discovered (i.e. they dug through her attic) manuscript from Beatrix Potter which is to be illustrated by Quentin Blake. Apart from my own feelings about attic books (not favorable) I don't understand why they picked an illustrator whose art is so dissimilar to Beatrix Potter's delicate drawings. I was happy to see that this subtly humorous tale of Potter's childhood did not make that mistake, being illustrated by Charlotte Voake who, although she has her own definite style, feels more evocative of Potter's taste and art to me.

The story begins with Beatrix Potter and her intense interest in drawing the natural world around her. However, during her childhood in the city, there was not much access to the natural world. Beatrix never let that stop her, however, and she and her brother collected a wide variety of pets. Unfortunately, they did not have a guinea pig and Beatrix dearly wanted to draw one. So, she borrowed one from the neighbor next door, a fine animal named Queen Elizabeth. Unfortunately, despite Beatrix's best intentions, Queen Elizabeth came to an...unfortunate end. Beatrix attempted to make up for the sad demise with a delicate portrait but if you were the bereaved Miss Paget, what would you have done?

The author continues with a note detailing Potter's later life and the later discovery of a portrait of a guinea pig, drawn about that time, which sold for an extensive sum. A detailed author's note, complete with photographs and primary documents, gives more information about Beatrix Potter's life and legacy along with sources of quotations and a brief bibliography.

Charlotte Voake's delicate watercolors are the perfect accompaniment to this delightfully Victorian tale, with tiny drawings of the various animals, reproductions of entries in Potter's journals, and elegant spreads of Beatrix Potter's world.

While I personally loved this story and the delicate art that accompanies it, it's unlikely to be a title that flies off your shelves on its own account. The tongue-in-cheek humor, while it will give a giggle to older readers "You can guess what happened next. That repast of paper, paste, and string took its toll. In the night the queen expired." will probably fly right over the heads of younger listeners. It's also a fairly lengthy text and would need a patient audience to sit still for the entire book while the more advanced vocabulary will need a good reader to wade through on their own.

Verdict: Although this doesn't have universal appeal, it's one that certain, specific children and their parents will love, especially if they are fans of Beatrix Potter. Occasionally I will purchase titles with limited appeal for certain segments of my audience and this is one that falls under that heading. If you have an audience for this type of book at your library, it's definitely the one to purchase this year in that category.

ISBN: 9780385373258; Published 2016 by Schwartz and Wade; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library