In the Tale of Benjamin Bunny, we pick up with Peter having lost his clothes in Mr. MacGregor’s garden. Benjamin Bunny is Peter’s cousin and unlike some of the film adaptations, in this story Benjamin seems to be rather bold and not shy about stealing from Mr. MacGregor’s garden. He knows his way around all the nooks and crannies and is even more mischievous than Peter. In this tale, Benjamin sees that Peter is feeling very badly about having lost his clothes and points out that Mr. and Mrs. MacGregor are gone for the day so that they can retrieve Peter’s clothes. Thus the adventure begins! We also learn a little more about Peter’s widowed mother, who dries and sells Rabbit tobacco, which is another way of saying lavender. You can see the lavender hanging in the burrow is some of the images. Benjamin and Peter do manage to get back Peter’s clothes, but they run into trouble with the cat and become trapped under a basket. Now enter Benjamin’s Father, who has come prepared to let Benjamin know the error of his ways with a switch. Old Mr. Rabbit locks the cat in the greenhouse and punishes Benjamin and Peter. In the end, Mr. MacGregor is left wondering how the cat got locked in the greenhouse and Peter’s mother forgives him for disobeying. So “all’s well that ends well”, when we get to the the end, something I think about as I get to the end of the day each day with my 3 children! Maybe this sounds familiar to you too?

To me, this Tale emphasizes the importance of listening to your mother and father, or to other advice given by your elders to help you stay out of trouble. But as I like to tell my twin boys, it also illustrates the loyalty to each other that can make friendships in life very special, whether it’s between siblings, cousins, or friends. As always, the illustrations draw me in as I lose myself among the vegetable rows in Mr. MacGregor’s garden. If only I could be a master gardener and create such a verdant haven. I invite you to join Benjamin and Peter as their adventure from The Tale of Peter Rabbit continues in Part 2 of the series. I have included the link to the Gutenberg Library book of The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. In addition, as these are in the Public Domain, you can download the PDF version of the images from the story, or save pages 1 and 2 to your computer, and edit and print them to make your crafts, anything from bookmarks and tags to banners. I hope you enjoy these illustrations and the crafts you and your children may use them for. Please consider liking this post so I know to make another on a different Beatrix Potter Tale!

Read The Tale of Benjamin Bunny online by clicking on the underlined book title in this sentence.

The Tale of Benjamin Bunny Illustrations