Legible Review: The Tale of Ginger and Pickles
When my kids were little, I loved reading Beatrix Potter stories aloud to them. So many children’s books were boring and repetitive to me, or based on TV and movie characters that I didn’t care about, so Beatrix Potter stories were a breath of fresh air! They’re well-written, with sweet, enjoyable plots and fun characters — not boring or repetitive at all — and the illustrations have always charmed me. That’s why I’m thrilled that The Tale of Ginger and Pickles is now available for beta readers on Legible. In this little book, Ginger, an orange tomcat, and Pickles, a terrier, run a village general store. The shop, although small, “sold nearly everything — except a few things that you want in a hurry — like bootlaces, hair-pins and mutton chops.” While some patrons of the store were a bit scared of the cat and dog pair (namely, mice and rabbit customers), Pickles believed that “ it would never do to eat our own customers,” so the store was a success until Ginger and Pickles’ policy of allowing shoppers to use credit caught up with them. The two end up in debt, finding themselves having to eat their own inventory and ultimately losing their business. So, like many other Beatrix Potter books, this is a cautionary tale as well as an adorable one. She even describes what credit means, for children who haven’t yet learned the concept.
Potter’s illustrations — in all her books — are just as enjoyable as the story! That’s why, here at Legible we make eBooks look just as great as the print version. We know you’ll appreciate the pictures in The Tale of Ginger and Pickles as much as we do! And as you go through the book, see how many Beatrix Potter characters you can recognize in the illustrations from her other stories. (Hint: many of them appear as customers at the shop.)
I especially enjoyed encountering Beatrix Potter again, as she’s been on my mind more ever since I visited her family’s summer home in Scotland last summer. It was here that she first wrote a letter to a friend that eventually became The Tale of Peter Rabbit. If you’re ever in Scotland, I highly recommend a visit. You can even take an alpaca for a walk around the estate while you’re there!
