The Bunny Who Started It All

When I was four, my family moved into a house that I found magical. There was a hidden room above our pantry and my sister, Julie and I would spend hours there with our imaginations and a flashlight. The hallways and little nooks were fitted with built-in bookshelves and writing desks and a backyard lined with evergreens beckoned my sister and I to burrow in between them. This house still holds such a special place in my mind and heart. It is the scene where I can recall my childhood dreams and longings and wonder. It is the place where sweet childhood memories were made and kept. It was also the beginning of an era... One of the rooms had vintage Beatrix Potter wallpaper from the early 20th century and as it eventually became my room, my mom started for me a lofty collection of Beatrix Potter books and dishes, ceramic characters and even stuffed animals. I was a little tired of it by the time I reached the sixth grade, but the indroduction to the character of Peter Rabbit had made a mark upon my life. Throughout college and early married life, I still would become sentimental when I saw a figure of Peter or Jemima Puddle Duck or Tom Kitten in a store window.
When Halle was a toddler, I began reading some of these stories to her. I loved how thoughtful Beatrix was of childrens' size and grip. Even at three, Halle's little hands could wrap around and steady the small books as if they were made just for her... for they had been! Now, Maia, our current three year old is captivated my Peter as well. Her personal favorite is 'The Tale of Two Bad Mice' and when Jones is sleeping she will creep down the hall and assure me she is just as quiet as Hunca Munca.
Dear Beatrix was not one to toss out fluff to little ones, but created for them stories so rich and satisfying that any child would want more and more of this 'good', 'whole',stuff. The diet of beautiful literature was formed in me as I stared at Peter Rabbit on my wallpaper,and what a gift it was! I want my children to have this gift as well, to have stories that inpire them, stories that are written with their whole life in mind and stories that require their full mental faculties to engage them. I want my children to know Beatrix, to know her creatures and her stories...and they will. All I must do is provide the introduction. How thankful I am for this little bunny and the way he has shown to other great works for my little ones and for me as well! Thank you Peter.

Here are some of my other favorite works of Literature to share with my little ones:
Winnie the Pooh Series by A.A. Milne
The Little House by Virginia Burton
The Sory About Ping by Marjorie Flack
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Mother Goose Collection
Classic Folktales
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Frances Books by Russel Hoban
Mrs. Piggle- Wiggle books