The Tale of Tom Kitten

My daughter got a set of Beatrix Potter books. I think it might be the complete works. They are amusing little reads about anthropomorphized critters set in early 1900s London and/or the English countryside. They are full of very classic looking children’s art and make use of terms and phrasings that are terribly outdated. They are quaint as f%#&.

I read her The Tale of Tom Kitten today. He is a mischievous little rascal for sure. His mother, Tabitha Twitchit, is expecting fine company for tea. So Tom and his sisters are washed and dressed in fancy clothing. But the kittens promptly lose the clothes to some ducks and get all dirty again. Upon finding them, their mother exclaims to them, “My friends will arrive any minute, and you are not fit to be seen; I am affronted!”