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THE CASE OF PETER RABBIT
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND CULTURE VOLUME 7 GARLAND REFERENCE LIBRARY OF THE HUMANITIES VOLUME 2115
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AND CULTURE JACK ZIPES, Series Editor CHILDREN’S LITERATURE COMES OF AGE Toward a New Aesthetic by Maria Nikolajeva REDISCOVERIES IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE by Suzanne Rahn REGENDERING THE SCHOOL STORY Sassy Sissies and Tattling Tomboys by Beverly Lyon Clark WHITE SUPREMACY IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Characterizations of African Americans, 1830–1900 by Donnarae MacCann
RETELLING STORIES, FRAMING CULTURE Traditional Story and Metanarratives in Children’s Literature by John Stephens and Robyn McCallum THE CASE OF PETER RABBIT Changing Conditions of Literature for Children by Margaret Mackey LITTLE WOMEN AND THE FEMINIST IMAGINATION Criticism, Controversy, Personal Essays edited by Janice M.Alberghene and Beverly Lyon Clark
THE CASE OF PETER RABBIT CHANGING CONDITIONS OF LlTERATURE FOR CHILDREN
MARGARET MACKEY
GARLAND PUBLISHING, I N C. A MEMBER OF THE TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP NEW YORK AND LONDON 1998
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Copyright © 1998 by Margaret Mackey All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mackey, Margaret. The case of Peter Rabbit: changing conditions of literature for children/by Margaret Mackey. p. cm.— (Garland reference library of the humanities; v. 2115. Children’s literature and culture; v. 7) Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 0-203-30521-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-34376-X (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-8153-3094-4 (hard cover) (alk. paper) ISBN 0-8153-3264-5 (paperback) 1. Potter, Beatrix, 1866–1943. Tale of Peter Rabbit. 2. Children’s literature —Publishing—Technological innovations—History—20th century. 3. Children’s literature—Marketing—History—20th century. 4. Children’s stories, English—History and criticism. 5. Children—Books and reading— History—20th century. 6. Authors and readers—History—20th century. 7. Potter Beatrix, 1866–1943—Adaptations. 8. Peter Rabbit (Fictitious character) 9. Rabbits in literature. 10. Rabbits in art. I. Title. II. Series: Garland reference library of the humanities; v. 2115. III. Series: Garland reference library of the humanities. Children’s literature and culture; v. 7. PR6031.O72T335 1998 809'.89282—dc21 98–6480 CIP Cover illustration copyright ©1986 Charles Santore, from The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit and Other Favorite Stories, published by Running Press.
Everything is to be found in Peter Rabbit. Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, p. 178
Contents
Acknowledgments
vii
Introduction
xi
Chapter 1
Peter Rabbit: Potter’s Story
3
Chapter 2
Peter Rabbit: Ways of Recasting
15
Chapter 3
Reillustrating Potter’s Words
25
Chapter 4
The Story Retold and Reillustrated
35
Chapter 5
The Videos
53
Chapter 6
Other Media
69
Chapter 7
The Activity Books
77
Chapter 8
The CD-ROMs
89
Chapter 9
Consumables and Collectibles
101
Chapter 10
Issues of Ownership
111
Chapter 11
The Author as Commodity
127
Chapter 12
New Adventures
135
Chapter 13
Implications
155
References Bibliography
191
Versions of The Tale of Peter Rabbit
196
Appendix
205
Index
207
Acknowledgments
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