Peter Rabbit

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Children's Books

Peter Rabbit is the main character in a series of children's books by Beatrix Potter. He first appeared in The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902. Although he and the other rabbits are drawn from life, they wear human clothes; Peter wears a bright blue coat and clogs. Peter Rabbit series has sold more than 151 million copies in 35 languages. The rights to the characters are owned by Frederick Warne & Co.

Peter's Appearances

The Tale of Peter Rabbit

One day, Mrs. Rabbit goes to the bakery, leaving Peter and his sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail to play in the forest. Disobeying his mother's orders, Peter sneaks into Mr. McGregor's garden and eats as many vegetables as he can before Mr. McGregor spots him and chases him around. Eventually, Peter manages to escape, but not before losing his jacket and his shoes, which Mr. McGregor uses for his new scarecrow.

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny

His cousin Benjamin finds out that Mr. and Mrs. McGregor have left their home unattended, and drags Peter to the garden to feed him some great carrots, where Peter's clothes still are (and as a result of rain the previous night, have shrunk). After getting Peter's clothes back, Peter and Benjamin steal some onions to give to Peter's mother, but are then captured by Mr. McGregor's cat. Fortunately, Benjamin's father, Mr. Benjamin Bunny (later renamed Mr. Bouncer), having noticed their disappearance, shows up and rescues them, but later reprimands Peter and Benjamin for going into Mr. McGregor's garden by whipping them with a switch that he was carrying with him. In 1987, a VHS of these two characters were released in one story.

The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle

Peter, along with Benjamin, makes a cameo in this story where Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle mends, among other clothing articles, Peter's jacket.

The Tale of Ginger and Pickles

In this story of the titular swindlers, Peter and his family, along with characters from several of Potter's other previous stories, make cameo appearances in the artwork.

The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies

According to this story, Peter, now an adult, usually lends cabbages to Benjamin, Flopsy, and their children. Sometimes he had no cabbages to spare.

The Tale of Mr. Tod

Benjamin and Flopsy's children are kidnapped by notorious badger Tommy Brock. While Flopsy takes out her anger on Mr. Bouncer for letting Brock in, Benjamin and Peter chase after Brock, who hides out in the house of Mr. Tod (a fox modeled after a similar-looking character from The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck). When Mr. Tod finds Brock sleeping in his bed, he sets a trap so that a bucket of water will fall on Brock. But Brock wakes up before Mr. Tod springs his trap, and the two get into a big scuffle, during which Peter and Benjamin (who have been watching these events) rescue the children.

Trivia

Convicted Bonnano crime family mobster Peter Calabrese is nickname "Peter Rabbit" after the children's story books. It is unknown how he adopted the peculiar nickname.