Beatrix Potter
By Illa Vij

SHE had a lonely and cloistered life as a young girl. But with her vivid imagination, she created unforgettable books for children. Parents, too, enjoyed buying and reading them out to their children, who took immense delight in finding the animal kingdom come alive. This shy, lonely author was Beatrix Potter.

Beatrix Potter was born in a well-to-do family, in 1866, in London. Unfortunately, she hardly interacted with anybody except her nurse. She lived in a beautiful mansion, but was left to herself with toys and dolls, to find her own imaginative world of pleasure. She would spend hours looking out of the window, overlooking the garden, from the third floor of the house, in search for signs of some excitement that would break the monotony in her life.

One summer, the family went to Scotland where she was allowed to move outdoors. Here in the gardens, she watched little animals like frogs and mice among the plants and near the stream. Secretly, she captured a hoard of frogs, beetles and caterpillars and even sloughed snake skins to her room upstairs. She made beautiful sketches of rabbits skating on ice, carrying umbrellas, walking and wearing bonnets and mantles.

By the time she grew up to be a teenager, Beatrix had become an introvert and was too shy to meet even her friends and cousins. She refused to dance at parties and withdrew from gatherings. All by herself, she visited the Natural History Museum. Here she spent long hours drawing stuffed animals. She became so sensitive that once when she was rebuked by one of the keepers at the museum, she put her drawing file away. She lived a typical Victorian life and even at the age of 30 she was without a friend or a husband.

When she was 27 years, she heard about the illness of her former governess’ son Noel Moore. Moved with love and sympathy, she began writing letters to him. They were not ordinary letters. She wrote stories of four rabbits — Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter. She illustrated the stories with little drawings of the characters and even painted them to make them look exquisite. Beatrix knew what a child’s heart desired. Probably, through Noel and her creations, she was stepping back into a delightful childhood.

Later, Beatrix began writing to more children. She wrote about Squirrel Nutkia, Jemina Puddle Duck and many other characters that children love till today.

When Beatrix finally compiled a manuscript The Tale of Peter Rabbit, she approached many publishers in London but they all rejected it. Although her parents were quite aghast, they permitted her to use some of her savings to publish her first book herself. She spent £ 11 on it. The book was what any child would love — few simple sentences and a picture on every page. By February 1900, 500 copies of the first edition were sold out. The sales became so steep that she wrote to Warne, the publisher who had earlier rejected her work, to reconsider. The illustrations were improved and thereafter began the wonderful world of ‘animal adventure’ for children. Norman Warne, son of the publisher, fell in love with Beatrix and the two decided to get married, much against the wishes of the Potter family. Unfortunately Norman fell ill; he was in an advanced stage of pernicious anaemia. He died a few days before Christmas. Beatrix suffered her loss alone. She bought a farm and began living there. Sunk in grief, Beatrix brought out one book after another and one day suddenly gave up writing.

She met a lawyer, William Heelis, whom she married him at the age of 47. She buried her past life, stopped writing and sent reporters away when they attempted to approach her. She enjoyed her farm life until her death in 1943. She gave children books they will never tire of.