We just posted "Peter Rabbit and the Tale of the Fierce Bad Publisher," Caroline Fraser's excellent article about Emma Thompson's The Further Adventures of Peter Rabbit and Frederick Warne's methods for getting around copyright laws in order to keep protecting its cash cow. Or bunny. (Cash bunny? Buck bunny?)

As someone who occasionally needs to ask Warne for permission to use Potter images in my talks — and as a long-time member of the Beatrix Potter Society, which relies on close ties with Warne — I was a bit worried about our publishing this article. Given the harsh truths that Fraser reveals, what might it mean for that symbiotic relationship? But as soon as I read the piece in full it became clear that we had to publish it. Thank you, Caroline!



We wanted to post some Potter-related articles for you, but the most recent, "London Sketches" (November/December 2011 Horn Book Magazine), won't be available online because while we DID get permission to reproduce the images in the article, we are only allowed to use them in the print version. (Note that you can buy the print issue via this page or look for it in your library.)

What we were able to put up is "Beatrix and Bertha," my 2006 piece on the friendship between Beatrix Potter and Horn Book's founder Bertha Mahony Miller. If you want even more and don't mind doing some spelunking, try the BP link page here.