Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 279
Beatrix Potter
Hello Everyone
Have you ever noticed how some famous children’s stories are really old and yet they are still really popular today?
This may be because parents like to read their children the stories that they enjoyed when they were young, and so the stories are passed down from generation to generation, over and over again.
Some of these stories were written before television was invented.
Some of them are on television now.
One of the most famous writers to write children’s stories was a lady called Beatrix Potter.
Not only did she write the stories, but she illustrated them as well. This is not always a common thing for children’s writers to do. But we can be sure that whatever was in her head when she thought up her stories, was exactly what people saw on paper when she drew her characters.
One of the reasons that Beatrix was so good at drawing was that she spent a lot of time observing wildlife. ln order to be a good artist, you have to be a good observer.
She was born a long time ago.
She was born in Kensington, London in 1866.
Her family was wealthy so she was educated by a governess (private teacher who lives with a family) instead of going to school.
Because she didn’t go to school, she did not mix with other children much. lnstead she had one brother and lots of pets to keep her company. She had mice, rabbits, a hedgehog and even some bats.
As a child, she spent many holidays in Scotland and the Lake District where she loved to go for walks and watch the wildlife. There were many beautiful views and interesting things for her to paint.
She liked to visit the art galleries in London.
ln those days, women did not usually go to university to study. But she was a clever girl and loved making notes and drawings of the natural world that interested her so much. She made such a wonderful study of mushrooms and toadstools illustrated with watercolour paintings of them that she became quite famous for being a mycologist before an author of children’s books.
Her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was so successful she was able to take up writing children’s stories as a full-time career.
Although she was influenced by traditional fairy tales and the children’s authors that had gone before her, the book she produced was a bit unusual for its time.
Nowadays, children are very used to seeing story books like this, with little animals dressed in clothes, living in homes with furniture and acting like humans – but not in those days.
With the money she earned from her books and some money left to her by an aunt, she bought herself a place to live. She moved into Hill Top Farm in the Lake District in 1905.
As she earned more money, she bought more land in order to preserve the landscape from any development that might spoil its picturesque beauty.
Her farm did well and she also started to breed prize-winning sheep.
ln 1913, at the age of 47, she married a local solicitor, William Heelis.
She wrote about 30 books of different lengths and many of them have inspired modern films and television programmes. She also developed toys and board games relating to her characters which sold well.
She died in 1943, and her husband died 18 months later. She left her land and a lot of her drawings to the National Trust which still looks after the estates that she owned.
Many people love to holiday in the Lake District National Park and Beatrix Potter is credited for preserving a lot of it as the unspoilt countryside it is today.
Many people all over the world still buy, read and love her books and visit her home as tourists to see where she lived and worked.
You can visit her house if you are ever in the area, when it is open.
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: What do you get when you cross a rabbit with a frog?
Bob: l don’t know. What do you get when you cross a rabbit with a frog?
Bill: A bunny ribbit!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
First edition, 1902
The Peter Rabbit TM Garden at Chelsea 2009
Beatrix Potter
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
This week Bill and Bob found some lolly sticks under their bed. We won’t ask how they got there – but they had an idea of how they could turn them into something useful.
They drew faces on one end of them and turned them into book marks.
The funny faces looked out of the top of their books when they shut them up.
A good way to keep your place when you haven’t finished reading a book or doing your homework!
*********************
TO ADVERTISE ON THIS BLOG
PLEASE CONTACT:
christina.sinclair.ads@aol.co.uk
*********************
Quick Quiz
Do you know these Beatrix Potter characters?
- P___r R____t
- J____a P____e–D__k
- J____y F____r
- M_s T___y-W____e
- T___y T_____s
- S______l N____n
- P_____g B___d
- T_m K____n
- T______y
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A PlCTURE FRAME
Do you take pictures of yourself on holiday and then want to put them up in your room to remind yourself of your happy holiday?
This frame is the right size to take a postcard.
If you want to change the picture in it from time to time, sew up the top of the front and back separately and hold together with a stitch that you can pull out easily and put back or some kind of small clip. Otherwise sew the top of the front and back together with the picture inside.
You will need to glue the picture to a piece of card in order to keep the picture in place and the frame stiff enough to stand up properly.
You will need 1 sheet of 7 mesh 10.5 by 13.5 inches/26.7 by 34.3cm
First cut your panels:
Front 41 x 53 holes 1 piece (the centre hole is 28 x 38)
Back 41 x 53 holes 1 piece
Stand 45 x 16 holes 1 piece
Backing for stand 44 x 16 holes 1 piece
You can use 2 or 3 or 4 colours to make your pattern
Run a line of tent stitches around the outside of the front and back panels
Work crosses over 9 holes diagonally and then put another cross over the top onto the holes that are left
Leave a blank space across the back to leave room to attach the stand
Use whichever colours you like in a chequer board pattern
Cut out the central hole in the front panel
Run a line of tent stitches around the hole and then the rim of the hole
Cover the stand with stitching in the same way too and then sew around the rim attaching the back of the stand to the worked panel as you go
One end will be left free – you can hide secret notes in here or put a piece of card for extra strength
Attach the two panels to the back of the frame as you sew along the top
You can use yarn with metallic thread to make your frame look more special if you like.
TIP
Try to use colours that are of a similar intensity otherwise a stronger colour will stand out above the others.
If you use two colours, you will achieve a crisp look and if you use more colours you will achieve a more mottled effect.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- Peter Rabbit
- Jemima Puddle–Duck
- Jeremy Fisher
- Mrs Tiggy-Winkle
- Timmy Tiptoes
- Squirrel Nutkin
- Pigling Bland
- Tom Kitten
- Tuppenny (From The Fairy Caravan)
