Review: Kinder Cottage “Peter Rabbit” Series books

Kinder Cottage Publishing gave me the privilege to review 2 books:
How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea and
Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy

 

A little about the books:

These are part of a series of 10 books about Peter Rabbit which were published by the Henry Altemus Company from 1917-1922 and written by Duff Graham.  They have been reprinted (with some words updated) by Kinder Cottage.

 

How Peter Rabbit Went to SeaIn How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea, Peter Rabbit is sent to Mr. McGregor’s garden to get some cabbages.  On the way home he sees and eats some green apples.  Unfortunately, they make him sick.  He forgets about the cabbages and when he gets home his mom gives him a spanking.  The next day Peter and his sisters go out to play, but Peter goes to the brook even though his mother told him not to. Peter builds himself a boat and goes out into the water.  Peter sees a whale, a shark, a crab, and a sword-fish. A gull lands on the boat, picks up Peter, and flies him to the shore.  When Peter finally gets back home he decides never to go out to be a pirate again!

Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy

In Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy, Peter is out playing with his sisters when he gets rough and the little girl rabbits get hurt.  Peter is made to stay in to play for the rest of the day.  He asks forgiveness and promises not to be so rough again.  One day soon after Peter and the girls were out playing when Peter goes over the hill even though his mother told them not to.  First his kite gets stuck in a tree and then he finds his cousin Jack-the-Jumper.  They decide to go into the wood, even thought Peter’s mother had told them never to do so–naughty bunnies.  They meet a Scissors Man who told them he had used scissors on a little boy who wouldn’t obey his mother.  They got very scared and ran away as fast as they could.  Then a hawk almost catches them.  They go to Mr. McGregor’s garden and eat cabbages.  When they leave, Peter discovers his watch is gone.  He cries, and then a little boy comes up to them.  He had found the watch in the cabbage patch.  He takes them to his play tent, and they have lots of fun playing.  Then the boy gives them presents and invites them to get a ride home in his grandfather’s car.  The message is that many dangers won’t come to you if you obey your mother!

How we liked them:

The books are written in an old-fashioned style.  I’m sure you’ve read some of this style if you have read books to your kids that were written from about 1900-1950.  It’s not my favorite style of writing.  It’s pretty wordy and not very poetic.  The stories are a bit random–not much of a plot line to them.  These are the kind of books I have to be in the right mood to read.  My kids enjoyed hearing the stories, though.  And my five-year-old, especially, loved reading them to herself.  The illustrations are cute, but again they are old-fashioned.  So, if you like old-fashioned, you’ll love these!

The binding is very nice–hardback with nice thick pages.  Each of the books I reviewed was 64 pages long.

Age Range:
These are ideal for ages 3-9.If you would like to see the other books in this series:The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Peter Rabbit at the Farm
Peter Rabbit’s Christmas
How Peter Rabbit Went to Sea
Peter Rabbit Goes A-Visiting
Peter Rabbit’s Easter
Peter Rabbit’s Birthday
When Peter Rabbit Went to School
Peter Rabbit and the Little Boy
Peter Rabbit and Jack the JumperPrice:The backs of the book say $12.95, but Kinder Cottage Publishing sells them for $4.00 each!