Review: The Art of Beatrix Potter

Does the thought of Beatrix Potter and her books bring back good memories?   Do you love the art work that she did?   Wouldn't it be neat to watch a talent develop and see the progression in a famous series of books, as well as to see what else Miss Potter was interested in as an artist?

Well then... Have I got the book for you!!!  

I originally was going to put this book in my art series, (would post mid January), but as I started going through it I thought no.... I cannot wait that long.  This book is WAY to beautiful and nice to let it wait that long.   Beatrix Potter did such lovely work.   I will be referring to it later on in the Art Book Series, but for now, let me tell you about this lovely hardcover book that tells us all about The Art of Beatrix Potter.

So what do you get in this marvellous book?

Five main sections covering
1. Becoming Beatrix Potter
2. London and the South Coast
3. Scotland
4. The Lake District
5. Wales and Beyond

 As I went through this book I discovered reams upon reams of gorgeous drawings.  I met all the characters from her book, discovering that:

I discovered that Beatrix secretly bought Peter Rabbit, and eventually trained him to walk on a leash.  Can you imagine seeing that?   Made me grin when I thought about it.

There is SO much I could tell you about this book, just so very much, but I wanted to tell you about the fungi pictures.  YES.. I like fungi, I love taking pictures of them, and as I was browsing through this book look at what I discovered!!!!

Did you that Miss Potter did up a whole bunch of drawings on fungus..and she did them really well?   I was thoroughly impressed and learned so much!   :)

That was only one part of the book though, scattered throughout were all her characters that we know and love, Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin and all the rest.

This image made me smile as well, three guinea pigs in a basket.  I used to raise guinea pigs and still miss their wheeking at me first thing in the morning.  Seeing this picture brought back good memories for me.  In fact this whole book did that, seeing the pictures of the Peter Rabbit books and the guinea pigs...just gave me the warm fuzzies.

 This is a very thorough book that is not a dry treatise.   Tons of art work with the words to fill in the details to delight and educate the reader.  Beauty in art, and strength and knowledge in words.  

For anyone who treasures the work of Beatrix Potter and wants to know the woman behind the books and how she developed her talent, this book is a perfect fit.

Author:  Emily Zach

foreword by Steven Heller

introduction by Linda Lear

Publisher:Chronicle Books
Size: 9.96 x 11.28
256 pages

Reviewed for: Raincoast Books

Amazon.ca

 The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations

Amazon.com

The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings, and Illustrations