Popular characters in the Beatrix Potter books

Beatrix Potter books have been perennial favorites for children of all ages, ever since they appeared more than 110 years ago. Some of the characters like Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle Duck are much loved characters in the Beatrix Potter books.

So if you don’t have a complete collection of Beatrix Potter books, you’re missing out on something in the realm of classic and imaginative children’s fiction! The most popular characters in the Beatrix books are, of course, Peter Rabbit, his cousin, Benjamin Bunny, and Peter Rabbit’s mischievous nieces and nephews, the Flopsy Bunnies. However, there are a few other characters that keep reappearing in many of the Potter books.

One of them is Jemima Puddle Duck. Jemima Puddle duck first appeared in The Tale of Tom Kitten and then The Tale Of Jemima Puddle duck. It is based on a real duck in Beatrix Potter’s Hilltop Farm. This duck had a bad habit of hiding its nest in the most inaccessible places.

Jemima Puddle Duck

Jemima Puddle Duck just wants a place where she can lay eggs undisturbed. The only problem is that the eggs are always taken from her nest, on the farm. Therefore, she decides to go to the forest to find a place where she can lay her eggs and hatch her young ducklings. In the forest, she meets a charming, well-dressed gentleman, a fox, who promises her that she will be able to lay her eggs undisturbed in a nest of feathers. All she has to do is walk him to her house. But first, she needs to collect some traditional herbs, with which he is going to fill an omelette.

Jemima doesn’t know that those herbs are used to stuff ducks. It’s the farm’s collie, named Kep, who checks out Mr. Fox’s plan and comes to rescue Jemima from being eaten by the charming gentleman! Jemima returns to the farm and eventually gives birth to four baby ducks.

In another of Beatrix Potter’s books, The Tale Of Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle Duck and Mr. Drake Puddle Duck found fat little Tom Kitten’s clothes, which had been taken off and thrown on the road. These clothes were instantly donned by Jemima and Mr. Drake. So Tom Kitten and his little brother and sister went home, in a state that was not to be seen, and his angry mother immediately put them to bed!