|
The Real Miss Potter
12 January 2007. As Miss Potter hits our cinema screens, Okey-Dokey explores the life of one of the world's best-loved children's authors.
The film Miss Potter, starring Renée Zellweger and Ewan MacGregor, is about the British children's author Beatrix Potter. She wrote and illustrated stories about animals. Her most famous character was Peter Rabbit.
Her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was published in 1902. In this story, old Mrs Rabbit goes to the market and leaves Peter and his three sisters to play in the forest. Naughty Peter disobeys his mother and goes to his neighbour's garden to eat vegetables. The angry neighbour comes home and chases Peter, who escapes but loses his jacket and boots.
Peter Rabbit is now very famous internationally. Beatrix Potter's books have been translated into 35 
languages and more than 150 million copies have been sold.
Early Life
Beatrix Potter came from a rich family who lived in a big house with several servants. when she was a child, she spent many summers with her family on holiday in Scotland and the Lake District (in the north of England). It was during these holidays that young Beatrix started to love nature. Her and her brother used to walk in the woods and fields and draw pictures of the animals they found.
Her parents were overprotective so she didn't have much chance to make friends when she was young. Perhaps this is why she developed such a rich imagination. However, her and her brother had many pets, including a rabbit called Peter.
Career & Romance 
At first, Beatrix Potter had great difficulty in finding a publisher. Her books were rejected by six companies, until finally, Frederic Warne and Co agreed to publish it. The youngest son in the Warne family soon became close friends with Beatrix and the two fell in love. The film Miss Potter tells the story of their romance.
Potter wrote 23 books in total. Other famous characters included Jemima Puddleduck, Mrs Tiggy-winkle the hedgehog and a frog called Jeremy Fisher.
The Lake District 
With the money she earnt from the sale of her books, Beatrix bought a farm in the Lake District. The Lake District is a very beautiful part of England with lakes and small mountains. During her life, she bought a lot of land and when she died, she donated this land to the National Trust so that the area would stay natural and beautiful. The land is now part of the Lake District National Park.
If you visit the this area you can find various places connected to Beatrix Potter. Bowness-on-Windermere is a pretty town next to England's largest lake and home to The World of Beatrix Potter Attraction. Near the town, there is also her farm and the Beatrix Potter Gallery. But most importantly, in the Lake District you can see the beautiful countryside that inspired her stories, and which she helped to protect.
Links
Illustrated Beatrix Potter stories
