Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Tea, ginger snaps and Beatrix Potter


I went to school today to meet my boy's teacher.  She is so friendly and sweet. The kid loved her instantly and wanted to start school right away!  He won't have to wait for long; next Monday is the first day of school and I am glad he is so enthusiastic about it.

The weather is as hot as ever and standing so long outside for the school's doors to open and then for the ride home was a bit too much and I came home with a bad headache.  After some time in bed, I finally got up, took a hot shower (the cure for some headaches) and indulged with hot tea (that too, is a cure for some headaches) and Anna's ginger snaps (which do not cure anything but they sure are delicious).

Instead of reading books tonight, I let my boy watch some of the cartoons from The Complete Beatrix Potter Collection which is a 2-pack DVD.  It is a very sweet and slow-paced cartoon which captures perfectly the spirit of Beatrix Potter's charming stories.

There are 9 episodes in total and they last 26 minutes each.  Each episode is preceded with a short scene with real actors playing Beatrix Potter in her house, painting, or going to the market.  It's very well made and my boy enjoys both the cartoon and the live scenes.  But he is always a bit scared when the rats were trying to eat the little cat in The Roly-Poly Pudding and he did not like the dark setting in The Tale of Pigling Bland.

I was surprised he would actually like watching these episodes for they are so slow compared to the usual cartoons he likes such as Spiderman, Batman, etc.  His favorite episode remains the Tailor of Gloucester which makes him automatically ask me to read him the story afterward.  He also likes the live sequence with actors because it's Christmas and Beatrix Potter listens to a choir of children singing Christmas carols. It's my favorite scene too!   

Here below are the episode titles:

Disc One:
  1. The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny
  2. The Tale of Mr. Tod
  3. The Tale of Two Bad Mice and Johnny Town-Mouse
  4. The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
  5. The Tailor of Gloucester
Disc Two:
  1. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding
  2. The Tale of Tom Kitten and Jemima Puddle-Duck
  3. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies and Mrs. Tittlemouse
  4. The Tale of Pigling Bland
There is apparently a French DVD coming out on October 9, 2012 Beatrix Potter : les contes de Pierre Lapin et ses amis but I don't know yet if this is the French version of the 9 episodes in English. We'll see!



Je suis allée à l’école aujourd’hui pour rencontrer la maîtresse de mon garçon.  Elle est très gentille et le petit l’a adoré tout de suite et voulait commencer les classes immédiatement.  Il n’aura pas à attendre longtemps car les classes recommencent le lundi prochain et je suis bien heureuse qu’il soit aussi enthousiaste.

Il faisait toujours aussi chaud et après avoir longuement attendu pour que les portes de l’école ouvrent et pour le trajet du retour, je me suis retrouvée avec une migraine une fois revenue à la maison.  Après un peu de repos au lit et une douche chaude (qui guérit parfois les maux de tête), j’ai bu un bon thé chaud (ça aussi, ça guérit un mal de tête) et un goûter de biscuits suédois au gingembre (qui ne guérissent rien du tout mais qui, parcontre, demeurent délicieux).

Au lieu de lire un livre à bébé, je l’ai laissé regarder un des films animés de The Complete Beatrix Potter Collection qui contient 2 DVD. C’est un film animé adorable au rythme lent qui saisi parfaitement l’atmosphère des charmantes histoires de Beatrix Potter.

Il y a 9 épisodes en tout et ils sont de 26 minutes chacune.  Chaque épisode est précédée d’un court-métrage avec de vrais acteur jouant les rôles de Beatrix Potter et les gens de son entourage.  On la voit dans sa maison, en train de peindre des aquarelles, ou allant au marché.  C’est très bien fait et mon garçon aime les épisodes animées ainsi que les courts-métrage.   Il a cependant toujours un peu peur quand il voit les rats qui essaient de manger le chaton dans The Roly-Poly Pudding et il n’aime pas l’histoire sinistre du Tale of Pigling Bland.

Je suis étonnée qu’il veuille regarder cette série animée car l’action y est si lente comparée aux films animés tel que Spiderman, Batment etc.  Son épisode préféré demeure celui du Tailleur de Gloucester et il me demande toujours de lui lire l’histoire après avoir regardé le film.  Il aime aussi la scène avec les vrais acteurs car c’est Noël et on peut y voir Beatrix Potter qui écoute des enfants chanter des chants de Noël.  C’est l’épisode que je préfère aussi!

Paraît-il qu’une version en français sera en vente le 9 octobre 2012!  Beatrix Potter : les contes de Pierre Lapin et ses amis.  Je ne sais pas encore si cette version reprendra les 9 épisodes de la version anglaise. On verra bien!

6 comments:

  1. hello Miss B! thank you for your really lovely comment today, it really made my day! I love when Pinterest leads me to new friends and new blogs to discover! My daughter and I have watched most these dvd's, which we checked out from the library -- we LOVED them, they were so fun and I loved the live action part in the beginning and end, so wonderful...I can see that we have a LOT in common if we both love tea , gingersnaps and Beatrix Potter!!!! :)

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    1. Hi Melissa! Teehee! You gave me my first comment! I'll see that as a good sign for my new blog that I just started a few days ago. I love to read your blog as it makes me discover things that are so useful! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!

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    2. you are SO welcome! and hurray you! I think I had to wait weeks for any comments....:)

      we seriously have a lot of the same likes and interests :)

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    3. Blogger interactions are fun! I appreciate the comments very much! Thanks Melissa :D

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  2. I don't really know Beatrix Potter but when I was a child, I loved the stories with the animals. Every Wednesday morning, I watched the animated series "Les animaux du bois de Quat'sous" sitting on my dad's lap. It was our weekly ritual. I'm French and I must say that the original titles always go out of the window with me, sorry. We also watched "Les histoires du Père Castor". I don't think it exists in English. There were three young beavers and Father Beaver told them some beautiful stories sitting in his chair. "Père Castor" was a book collection before being adapted on TV. It was terribly cute and in those days, I was it too. ...but this time is just a memory now.

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    1. Children's French cartoons back then were great! I remember watching them as a kid too :) And you are still cute! Thanks for your comment sweet Laura!

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