The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

First published in December 1906
15 color illustrations*

If you're a fierce bad rabbit. you might just lose your tail and whiskers.

The History Behind the Tale (Linder 183-184):
The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit was the first of three stories Beatrix Potter planned for younger children. The story was written for Norman Warne's niece Louie who complained that Peter Rabbit was too good. She wanted a story about a bad rabbit. The book was published in panoramic form that folded up into a wallet. This format was highly unpopular with booksellers as they unrolled easily and were troublesome to roll back up. In 1916, The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit was changed to the small bound format that all Potter's other books had taken.

My thoughts: The simplicity of this story is deceiving--it shows cause and effect and consequences without being didactic. Beatrix Potter definitely understood her intended audience--young children. The illustrations show exactly what the text says.

Favorite Illustrations: the nice rabbit with his carrot, the fierce bad rabbit taking the carrot, what happens, the fierce bad rabbit without tail or whiskers

Activities:
-Pin the Tail on the Rabbit
-Rabbit, Rabbit, where's your carrot? (like doggy and the bone)

Favorite Words: savage, creeps, peeps

I hope you've enjoyed my discussion of The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit. I'll be back next Thursday to explore The Story of Miss Moppet. Until then, happy reading!

(*This title was reviewed from A Giant Treasury of Beatrix Potter, published by Derrydale Books in 1984.)