This review refers to the version with illustrations by [a:Charles Santore|103097|Charles Santore|/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg]. We ordered this one from the library by mistake, thinking it was the complete collection with [a:Beatrix Potter's|11593|Beatrix Potter|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201022492p2/11593.jpg] original illustrations. Well, it's neither. It's a large format book containing five of Beatrix Potter's bunny stories: "The Tale of Peter Rabbit", "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher", "The Tale of Mr. Benjamin Bunny", "The Tale of Two Bad Mice" and "The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies".

Now, it's not that the [a:Charles Santore's|103097|Charles Santore|/assets/nophoto/nophoto-M-50x66-e07624dc012f2cce49c7d9aa6500c6c0.jpg] illustrations are bad, they're actually somewhat in the style of the original, much unlike for instance the drawings of [a:David McPhail|3347045|David McPhail|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1307375340p2/3347045.jpg] in that infamous [b:Scholastic edition|645652|The Tale Of Peter Rabbit|Beatrix Potter|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328835730s/645652.jpg|25089094], and some of them are actually pretty stunning, such as the picture of the trout jumping on Mr. Jeremy Fisher. Also, they may be better suited for the large format of this book than the originals. However, the original format of Beatrix Potter's stories, it must be said, is just so much better, with less print on each page (I actually didn't care for the super large font used here at all) and the pictures and the text going more hand in hand. Add to this that the title "Complete Tales" here is a complete misrepresentation, so I wouldn't finally recommend this version at all. ( )

I know that a lot of people like Beatrix Potter, but I found myself thinking "Why is this here? Why is this included? What's the point in this? Will this story never end?" Part of it is the difference in writing styles between books written in the last decade and those written pre-1900. But I just...didn't like this. I didn't like that the rabbits get away with stealing food from a neighbor, someone who works hard at keeping a garden.

I think that, maybe, it might be a good book for children who can read to themselves, but for reading aloud to toddlers, I didn't like it. ( )