Jemima Puddleduck original story

[user1471517900]

We had a box set gifted to us so thought we would read Jemima last night by request. Dear god that book has a needlessly horrific ending (was hurriedly changed in our reading). Dogs save her from the fox.... Then eat her eggs and then it states she's a rubbish mum for no real reason. What is wrong with Beatrix Potter?! Last three pages attached - apologies if a couple are sideways.

Did everyone else know about these original stories?

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers was my utter fave when young.

Also: "Your father had an accident: he was put in a pie by Mrs McGregor".

Good stuff. Loved it.

I also read in a book by Marina Warner that the original version of Little Red Riding Hood ended with her being eaten by the wolf.

Anyone interested in the history of fairy tales and their meanings should read Marina Warner. She's ace!

I was happy to read Beatrix Potter to my kids unless they didn't like it, which sometimes happened. For the most part they understood the humour and the darkness.

I never fed my kids animals, and they understood why from very early on.

I enjoyed reading lots of the BP stories to my DC (although they vary wildly in length, so you need to be careful about giving your DC free pick of bedtime stories unless you want to be reading for an hour). But the last page of Jemima Puddleduck always got skipped because I personally am Not Up For That Ending. And yes dogs and people do eat ducks’ eggs IRL, but not the sort of ducks who talk and wear bonnets.

I love Beatrix Potter - her stories aren't overly moralistic and schmaltzy (apparently unlike most victorian children's stories) but they are nowhere near as bad as most original fairy stories! Some of them are definitely better than others (don't read the very bad rabbit op!)

I get the impression that most of her characters are directly lifted from her observations - perhaps there was a duck on her farm in real life who was particularly bad at nesting. I think that children - especially those growing up in rural areas- would be much more aware of where meat comes from etc than nowadays.

"Your father had an accident there...".

dd asked out of the blue one day why Peter's father didn't use the toilet in Mr McGregor's garden! Took us ages to work out what she was on about.

I loved the Beatrix Potter Books growing up. I still have the collection of stories my dad got me as a child.

I don’t remember ever finding them upsetting or scary. I think children are quite good at dealing with most things - I don’t think those stories need their endings changing at all.

Her stories are honest - foxes eat duck eggs. Farmers shoot rabbits and turn them into pies. That’s reality. And remember, Beatrix grew up in the Lakes on a farm - that’s what was normal for her!

Mother Nature and baby animals aren’t cute, fluffy and happy all the time!

Fruitcocktail6 The tale of Samuel Whiskers - that was really quite traumatising, I had it as a video when I was younger and I hated it.

ErrolTheDragon I completely agree - as farmers we spend a great deal of time bollocking idiots to keep their bastard dogs on leads. "We're not doing any harm" in the middle of bird nesting season is usually the answer. Morons.

I was horrified but dd wasn't bothered. I supposed it's the reality of country life. She just learned about death from watching Bing!

The story of Miss Moppet is quite nice, no character is seriously harmed

Frillyhorseyknickers

Yes that it's! I saw a cartoon of it too, it's horrible!

That's it*

Beatrix Potter was a farmer. She was a hard-headed, practical, highly-skilled, intelligent woman. Her stories reflect the brutal realities of farming, as well as her cynicism over the restrictions imposed by society. And her Dahl-esque sense of humour.

Don't assume that, because they're small and beautiful, and because the Beeb has jumped on the marketing bandwagon, that they're all tweely sweet.

Some of them are a little challenging for modern sensibilities, but that makes them all the more appealing to a wider age-range. So your 4yo can appreciate Tom Kitten, your 5yo can wonder at Mrs Tiggywinkle, your 6yo can thrill at Samuel Whiskers and your 7yo can tell Squirrel Nutkin where to get off.

I had nightmares about Mr Tod as a child, though that was from his own book rather than his appearance in Jemima Puddleduck. I grew up on a farm, so it was not like I was unaware of how life could be.

The only book I had to edit on the fly while reading aloud was Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes.

The prince calls Cinderella a slut.

@drivingmisspotty I watched the BBC ones from the 90s at a showcase last Christmas and they were very true to the books. I was shocked and quite horrified!

And yes dogs and people do eat ducks’ eggs IRL, but not the sort of ducks who talk and wear bonnets.

You mean imaginary ones?

I think the only book ending I ever dodged when reading to my DD was the last bit of the Princess and Curdie, because it was oddly bleak without adding anything useful without getting too deep.

As someone who grew up in the lakes myself with not ducks but hens, it was far FAR less gruesome than real life. (Hens are WEIRD. At least there was no incest in Potter...) The idea that that kind of ending is too much for children is totally alien to me.

And hens absolutely could be good or bad mother's. We had a pair where one was guaranteed to lose half of every hatching, whereas her sister only ever lost one.

I just have an image of country children being read a version with a nice ending.
“But Mum..”
“Well our puppies would have just rushed in to get the eggs.”
“Or maybe even attack Jemima...”
“Yes but Jemima is a goose and they can be pretty vicious”
“ One tried to eat my fingers once, didn’t it?”

Samuel Whiskers has a happy ending. No kittens are harmed in the making of the story and even the evil rats escape. I love the last page.

Whoops

The fierce bad rabbit is DD(4)s favourite. Especially when the hunter shoots at the rabbit - BANG!!

The prince calls Cinderella a slut

Dahl was a dodgy old anti-semite and no doubt a misogynist too. However, in fairness, slut doesn't always have sexual connotations and, in the context of the poem it means 'dirty/unkempt', which Cinders was. I like the fact that Dahl satirises and highlights the horribleness of the original fairy tale:

"Poor Cindy's heart was torn to shreds.
My Prince! she thought. He chops off heads!
How could I marry anyone
Who does that sort of thing for fun?"

Good question

The Brothers Grimm were grim indeed

child neglect, torture, murder, rape

my worst is Rumpelstiltskin, she gets to marry the greedy king, YAY

and as for jack the thieving bastard. I hate him and its a really shitty message and is sizeist to boot

I really like the drama in BP books, Mrs Tiggywinkle managing to keep loathsome Mr Jackson out of her house. I know that old Mr Bunny beats naughty bunnies and sets upon the cat with furious blows and Hunca Munca enraged smashes up the ham made of china when she realises its inedible.

Your child will be exposed to stuff you don't like, its being a guide on that journey thats the role we play.

Do you really need to sugar coat the ending? DS is just turned 3 and we read them, they're just stories about animals, maybe because we live in a farming community and understand where meat comes from it's not seen as a big deal.