The Tale of Tom Kitten
First edition cover | |
Author | Beatrix Potter |
---|---|
Illustrator | Beatrix Potter |
Language | English |
Genre | Children's literature |
Publisher | Frederick Warne & Co. |
Publication date | September 1907 |
Publication place | England |
Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Preceded by | The Story of Miss Moppet |
Followed by | The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck |
Text | The Tale of Tom Kitten at Wikisource |
The Tale of Tom Kitten is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them. Tabitha Twitchit, a cat, invites friends for tea. She washes and dresses her three kittens for the party, but within moments the kittens have soiled and lost their clothes while scampering about the garden. Tabitha is "affronted". She sends the kittens to bed, and tells her friends the kittens have the measles. Once the tea party is underway however, its "dignity and repose" are disturbed by the kittens romping overhead and leaving a bedroom in disorder.
Plot summary
This book tells the story of three little kittens, Mittens, Tom Kitten and Moppet, who get into mischief. Their mother, Mrs. Tabitha Twitchit, grooms and dresses them up for company she is expecting, then sends them out with the admonishment that they not get dirty. They not only do get dirty but lose their clothes to some passing puddle-ducks. When they return, she hides them upstairs and tells her company that they have the measles.
Book connections
Tabitha Twitchit had appeared in a previously published story, The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan, in which she was a shop keeper. The illustrations included her kittens playing.
The cat family re-appeared in The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or, The Roly-Poly Pudding. One of the kittens featured in The Story of Miss Moppet and Tabitha Twitchit and her shop are mentioned again in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles.
One of the puddle-ducks from the story is featured in The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.
Inspirations
The cat family home was based on Beatrix Potter's own house, Hill Top in Cumbria.[1]
Adaptations
An animated adaptation of the story, shown alongside The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, was featured on The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends in 1993.
References
- Footnotes
- ^ The Ultimate Peter Rabbit, published in 2002 by Dorling Kindersley
- Works cited
- Dubay, Debby; Sewall, Kara (2006). Beatrix Potter Collectibles: The Peter Rabbit Story Characters. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7643-2358-X.
- Kutzer, M. Daphne (2003). Beatrix Potter: Writing in Code. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94352-3.
- Lear, Linda (2007). Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature. New York: St. Martins Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-37796-0.
- Linder, Leslie (1971). A History of the Writings of Beatrix Potter. Frederick Warne & Co. ISBN 0-7232-1334-8.
- MacDonald, Ruth K. (1986). Beatrix Potter. Twayne's English Author Series. Boston: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-6917-X.
- Taylor, Susan; Whalley, Joyce Irene; Hobbs, Anne Stevenson; Battrick, Elizabeth M. (1987). Beatrix Potter 1866–1943: The Artist and Her World. F. Warne & Co. and The National Trust. ISBN 0-7232-3561-9.
- Taylor, Judy (1996) [1986]. Beatrix Potter: Artist, Storyteller and Countrywoman. Frederick Warne. ISBN 0-7232-4175-9.
External links
- The full text of The Tale of Tom Kitten at Wikisource
- Media related to The Tale of Tom Kitten at Wikimedia Commons
- An omnibus of Potter's children's tales at Standard Ebooks
- The Tale of Tom Kitten at Project Gutenberg
- The Tale of Tom Kitten at Internet Archive
- The Tale of Tom Kitten public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- v
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- The Tale of Peter Rabbit
- The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
- The Tailor of Gloucester
- The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
- The Tale of Two Bad Mice
- The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle
- The Tale of the Pie and the Patty-Pan
- The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
- The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
- The Story of Miss Moppet
- The Tale of Tom Kitten
- The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
- The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding
- The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
- The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
- The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse
- The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes
- The Tale of Mr. Tod
- The Tale of Pigling Bland
- Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes
- The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
- Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes
- The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
- Peter Rabbit
- Mr. McGregor
- Tabitha Twitchit
- The Tales of Beatrix Potter
- The Tailor of Gloucester
- The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
- The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
- The Adventures of Peter Rabbit & Benjamin Bunny
- Peter Rabbit (television series)
- Peter Rabbit (film)
- Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
- Beswick Pottery
- Miss Potter
- Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse
- Frederick Warne & Co.
- Norman Warne
- Hardwicke Rawnsley