Think you know everything about... ANSWERS
PETER RABBIT
WITH the Royal Mint releasing a Peter Rabbit 50p piece, and a film based on the stories out now, it’s time to test your knowledge... 1 PETER Rabbit was based on author Beatrix Potter’s: A. Pet rabbit B. Son C. Father D. Brother 2WHICH character from The Tale Of Peter Rabbit is in the Oxford English Dictionary? A. Peter Rabbit B. Mr McGregor C. Flopsy D. Cotton-tail 3TRUE OR FALSE: Peter is the oldest licensed literary character in the world. 4TO GET publishers interested in the story, Potter’s friend turned it into what? A. A song B. A game C. A poem D. A play 5 WHICH two of these did Potter insist upon for the publication of The Tale Of Peter Rabbit? A. That it was colourfully illustrated B. That it was small enough for children’s hands C. That she was given a pseudonym D. That it was affordable 6TRUE OR FALSE: Potter said her childhood was ruined by the deaths of several of her pets.
1) A. Pet rabbit
POTTER had a Belgian buck rabbit that she named Peter Piper. She described him as an ‘affectionate companion and a quiet friend’ and wrote that he was ‘bought at a very tender age, in the Uxbridge Road, Shepherd’s Bush, for the exorbitant sum of 4/6’. She also said: ‘Peter used to lie before the fire on the hearth rug like a cat.’
2) C. Flopsy
The phrase ‘ flopsy bunny’ means ‘sentimental designation of a rabbit’. POTTER designed and made the first Peter Rabbit doll herself in 1903.
4) C. A poem
POTTER’S friend, Canon Rawnsley, turned it into an 85-page poem. It began: ‘There were four little bunnies — no bunnies were sweeter/Mopsy and Cotton-tail Flopsy and Peter/They lived in a sand-bank as here you may see/ At the foot of a fir — a magnificent tree.’ A company agreed to publication, but preferred Potter’s ‘simple narration’.
5) B and D
ThE author initially decided to publish the book herself, because publishers had said they wanted to produce a larger, more expensive book with colour illustrations. Potter insisted: ‘Little rabbits cannot afford to spend six shillings on one book and would never buy it.’
6) False
IN FACT, whenever one of her pets — including lizards, bats, mice and rabbits — fell ill, she would put it down and skin and boil the carcass so she could remove the skeleton. She would then use this to practise her drawing.