When the Classics of the Past Are Prologue
There is cheek and opportunism in the creation of new sequels for long-ago classic books: Everyone involved, from writer to illustrator to publisher, surely knows that he is hooking himself to another person's genius. Many esteemed dead writers, from Jane Austen to Margaret Mitchell, have had to gaze from the beyond at the prose of their imitators. Let's hope they haven't minded too much.
In fairness, though, sequels can spring as much from admiration as from presumption. And it can be a kindness to readers for a talented living author to send old characters on fresh adventures.
Frederick Warne & Co.
In the case of Peter Rabbit, the wonder is that it took a century for him to reappear. His creator, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), produced some two dozen books featuring Peter and other farm and woodland creatures, each book filled with her delicate watercolor drawings. To this body of work we can safely add "The Further Tales of Peter Rabbit" (Frederick Warne & Co., 64 pages, $20), written by British actress Emma Thompson and graced with endearingly Potter-esque illustrations by Eleanor Taylor.
This further tale, which is much larger in size than the originals (any of which you could tuck into a pocket), maintains Potter's jaunty tone while gently taking her characters onto newish narrative ground. Ms. Thompson achieves this by sending Peter Rabbit from Mr. MacGregor's farm to the Scottish Highlands, a kilt-wearing, porridge-eating place where the bunny is "put to bed with much kindness, on a sack filled with sheepswool and heather." Invited to watch clans compete in games that involve pitching heavy objects, Peter wanders off and discovers an enormous rosy radish, which smells so delicious that he cannot help gnawing into it. When Peter is teased into flinging the hollowed-out vegetable to one of the muscular competitors, it is not nearly as heavy as it looks.
His apparent show of strength temporarily makes the visitor the hero of the glen. "Peter was raised aloft on dozens of rough paws and bounced about until he felt sick," Ms. Thompson writes. Ashamed, Peter confesses the truth and, to his (and the young reader's) relief, the brawny Scots roar with laughter and cheer him all the more.
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In fairness, though, sequels can spring as much from admiration as from presumption. And it can be a kindness to readers for a talented living author to send old characters on fresh adventures.
Eleanor Taylor's Peter (left);
This further tale, which is much larger in size than the originals (any of which you could tuck into a pocket), maintains Potter's jaunty tone while gently taking her characters onto newish narrative ground. Ms. Thompson achieves this by sending Peter Rabbit from Mr. MacGregor's farm to the Scottish Highlands, a kilt-wearing, porridge-eating place where the bunny is "put to bed with much kindness, on a sack filled with sheepswool and heather." Invited to watch clans compete in games that involve pitching heavy objects, Peter wanders off and discovers an enormous rosy radish, which smells so delicious that he cannot help gnawing into it. When Peter is teased into flinging the hollowed-out vegetable to one of the muscular competitors, it is not nearly as heavy as it looks.
His apparent show of strength temporarily makes the visitor the hero of the glen. "Peter was raised aloft on dozens of rough paws and bounced about until he felt sick," Ms. Thompson writes. Ashamed, Peter confesses the truth and, to his (and the young reader's) relief, the brawny Scots roar with laughter and cheer him all the more.
Read more ...