Books like The Tale of Mr. Tod

Beatrix Potter is a much better storyteller when her tales are longer. She delves deeper in to the nature of animals-the darker side of their nature-and her stories are better for it.There are two more dangerous animals in this tale-a fox and a badger-and rather than being calm gentlemen who smoke pipes and natter, they are portrayed here almost true to form. They're rather vicious and vindictive if one takes their personified forms too literally. In truth, they are just the animals we know them as, albeit with the standard Beatrix waistcoat and walking cane.The illustrations are a little different here: we have the darling watercolours that bring so much life to the stories, and we also have black and white engravings that add another dimension: perhaps not so much to the story but to the Beatrix Potter Legend overall.Peter Rabbit also makes an appearance here, and I much prefer him as an adult than as a rather tiresome little bunny. Like all of her stories there are darker natural elements to all of them, and most include some form of eating, whether it be Mr McGregor putting rabbits in pies or Badgers putting rabbits in pies; whatever the case may be, we all know that pies are the best. Long live pies.