Never Underestimate The Power Of A Rabbit

by Kimberly A. Cook        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Watched a fun movie last night which reminded me about the power of following your artistic dreams. The film, “Miss Potter,” came out in 2006 and profiled the life of Beatrix Potter, the author of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and many other children’s books. What she accomplished at a time when “publishing” was considered a common trade and not for women, is astounding.

She started by self-publishing her book and then finding a local publisher after many rejections. Peter Rabbit is still the bestselling children’s book to date. Imagine the power of that one little bunny. Not only did she write the stories, she illustrated them with beautiful drawings capturing the animals with lives and clothes of their own.

My copy of “Pierre Lapin,” Peter Rabbit in French, is a delight. The astounding thing I learned at the end of the film was the author’s commitment to preserving the lands she so loved by buying up neighboring Lake District farm properties with her bunny royalties. At her death, she donated 4,000 acres of land, farms and her sheep to the National Trust. That’s a lot of roaming land for rabbits.

Of course, it is interesting to note the copyright of 1902 was renewed by the publisher in 2002. Also, Peter Rabbit is digital savvy with his own web site at www.PeterRabbit.com and you knew it had to happen, he also has the The Original Tale of Peter Rabbit App!

If one woman’s dream to tell a story about a little rabbit could change the world, imagine how your writing dreams might take flight. We should all be so lucky to find our own special bunny to help us launch our books. Let’s hop to our writing!