ABSTRACT

The single most startling fact about the activity books associated with Peter Rabbit and other Potter characters is the sheer quantity. Considerable ingenuity has been expended on ways to repeat and recycle the same material over and over again in slightly different formats. Here, for example, are the entries in the name of Peter Rabbit alone from Warne’s Canadian catalogue for the autumn of 1995, under the heading of “Beatrix Potter Activity Books:”

Add to this the Ladybird contribution of a Peter Rabbit Shaped Coloring Book, a Peter Rabbit Sticker Book and a Peter Rabbit Color In Storybook and the scale of the marketing initiative begins to come clear. There are, of course, numerous variations on these themes featuring Jemima Puddle-duck, Tom Kitten and so forth. Other titles appear under different headings in the catalogue; there are also a number of pop-up books, hide and seek books, bath books, cloth books, board books, pictures, friezes and a Peter

Rabbit and Friends Poster Activity Book. On top of that comes the collection of baby books, birthday books, address books, diaries and postcard books. There is also a monthly magazine for children, published by the Redan Company in the Fun to Learn (TM) series and entitled Peter Rabbit and Friends (TM).