Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Jillian Woodward and I'm Roger Bassic.
Speaker 2: Spotlight Advanced uses a special English method of broadcasting. It
Speaker 2: is easier for people to understand no matter where in
Speaker 2: the world.
Speaker 1: They live, most people have a hobby, an activity they
Speaker 1: do just for enjoyment. For some people it is playing sports,
Speaker 1: some research their family history. For others it is writing stories.
Speaker 2: Today's spotlight is on Beatrix Potter. Potter's hobby was drawing.
Speaker 2: She would draw almost anything and drew often. But Potter's
Speaker 2: drawing would not remain a hobby for long. She would
Speaker 2: use her hobby to create some of the most beloved
Speaker 2: characters in She'll literature, and she did it all while
Speaker 2: celebrating the natural world she loved.
Speaker 1: Beatrix Potter was born in eighteen eighty six in London.
Speaker 1: Her family was wealthy. Her father was a lawyer, her
Speaker 1: mother was the daughter of a wealthy trader. Her early
Speaker 1: life was a series of travels to houses in the country.
Speaker 1: But Beatrix was not happy. There were things that her
Speaker 1: society expected of her, even as a little girl. There
Speaker 1: were ways people expected her to behave that she didn't like.
Speaker 1: She did not enjoy her mother's company, she had few friends.
Speaker 2: Potter escaped from these things into nature. She and her
Speaker 2: brother would hunt down animals and bugs. They would draw
Speaker 2: these animals together. Beatrix's mind was very scientific. She would
Speaker 2: draw these animals with as much detail as possible, But
Speaker 2: she was also very creative. She would make up stories
Speaker 2: about these animals. She gave them personalities and names.
Speaker 1: It was clear early on that Potter was a very
Speaker 1: intelligent girl. But a few women in her time went
Speaker 1: to school. When her brother went away to learn, she
Speaker 1: stayed home. Her parents employed a governess to teach her.
Speaker 1: Her name was Annie Moore. This private teacher gave her
Speaker 1: a basic education, but it did not prepare her for
Speaker 1: life on her own. Instead, she taught Potter to run
Speaker 1: a household.
Speaker 2: Still, Potter did not fit in with her society. As
Speaker 2: she grew up, she behaved like a good woman of
Speaker 2: her time. She lived with her parents. She took care
Speaker 2: of them, but she often escaped into nature. For a
Speaker 2: long time, she studied fungus. Fungus are organisms that are
Speaker 2: a little like plants, but they do not take energy
Speaker 2: from sunlight. Potter drew pictures of different funguses. She studied
Speaker 2: how they grew. She even tried to publish a paper
Speaker 2: on her findings, but publishers rejected her because she was
Speaker 2: a woman.
Speaker 1: Potter also continued to draw. It was all she could
Speaker 1: think about. She would draw anything that she could find. Once,
Speaker 1: she wrote in a letter, it is all.
Speaker 3: The same, drawing, painting, modeling. I have an irresistible desire
Speaker 3: to copy any beautiful object I see. I cannot rest.
Speaker 3: I must draw, even if the result is poor. Sometimes
Speaker 3: a bad time comes over me. Then the desire is
Speaker 3: stronger than ever, settles on the strangest things. Last time,
Speaker 3: it was the middle of September, I found myself in
Speaker 3: the back garden. I was making a careful copy of
Speaker 3: the pig food container. A laugh it gave me made
Speaker 3: me feel better.
Speaker 2: By the time she was thirty, Potter was tired and unhappy,
Speaker 2: but one of the products of this time would soon
Speaker 2: lead to a great change in her life. Once she
Speaker 2: was writing to the son of her old teacher Anymore,
Speaker 2: young Normore was sick. Potter told the boy one of
Speaker 2: her stories to make him feel better. It was a
Speaker 2: story about a young rabbit named Peter.
Speaker 1: In this story, Peter is the oldest of four children,
Speaker 1: but he does not act like it. Instead, he is
Speaker 1: playful and gets into trouble. His mother leaves to buy food.
Speaker 1: She tells him he could play outside, but he is
Speaker 1: not supposed to play in mister McGregor's garden.
Speaker 2: But the garden is the first place that Peter goes.
Speaker 2: He eats too much and gets sick. Mister McGregor finds
Speaker 2: him in the garden, he chases Peter down. Peter runs
Speaker 2: and hides. He does escape in the end, but he
Speaker 2: loses his new coat and shoes. His mother sends him
Speaker 2: to bed without dinner. His sisters, who were good, get
Speaker 2: a full meal.
Speaker 1: The story of Peter Rabbit was different than other children's
Speaker 1: stories in those days. Children's books were overly informative. They
Speaker 1: taught children how to behave Often they tried to frighten
Speaker 1: children into doing right. Potter's stories were fun. Instead, they
Speaker 1: were cheerful and encouraged creativity.
Speaker 2: Potter's first letters also included drawings. These drawings were full
Speaker 2: of life. They were enjoyable too. Moore was amazed by
Speaker 2: the letter. She told Potter that she should publish the story.
Speaker 2: Potter agreed.
Speaker 1: It took a long time for Potter to find a publisher,
Speaker 1: The story was the same as Potter's letter, but Potter
Speaker 1: wanted to make her pictures better. Potter wanted the book
Speaker 1: to be small so a child could hold it. She
Speaker 1: wanted it to cost less than other books, but people
Speaker 1: did not want to print that kind of book. In
Speaker 1: the end, she published it on her own.
Speaker 2: The Tale of Peter Rabbit was an immediate success. The
Speaker 2: book sold so well that a larger publisher asked to
Speaker 2: sell it. The publisher was called Warn, and Potter quickly
Speaker 2: started writing more books. She created characters out of animals
Speaker 2: from her gardens, like mice. These soft animals appealed to children,
Speaker 2: but they also taught about the natural world.
Speaker 1: Potter was also one of the first people to market
Speaker 1: her characters. She created several soft Peter Rabbit animals for
Speaker 1: children to play with. She drew wallpaper for children's rooms.
Speaker 1: She even made a game about Peter's story. At first,
Speaker 1: her publishers did not approve, but they soon changed their minds.
Speaker 1: Linda Lea is a writer. She wrote a book about
Speaker 1: Beatrix Potter's life. She explained to the Smithsonian magazine.
Speaker 4: This kind of thing was not done worn with a
Speaker 4: big publisher. They did not want to risk doing something
Speaker 4: the public would not like. But then Potter started doing
Speaker 4: it herself and they thought uh oh. Though they did it,
Speaker 4: and not surprisingly, it tholed very well.
Speaker 2: Potter's business decisions made her wealthy. She used her wealth
Speaker 2: to move out of her parents' home. She bought a
Speaker 2: farm in the English countryside. She became involved with raising sheep,
Speaker 2: and she used much of her wealth to save the
Speaker 2: natural world she loved.
Speaker 1: Over her lifetime, Potter wrote about sixty books, all of
Speaker 1: them involved animals, most described imaginary parts of English country life.
Speaker 1: She retired from writing after many years. She would still
Speaker 1: write and draw for fun, but she spent most of
Speaker 1: her time managing her farm and properties. She once joked
Speaker 1: in a letter to one of her publishers, I am.
Speaker 3: Very busy in work with real, live animals. It makes
Speaker 3: a person dislike paper book animals. But I should not
Speaker 3: say that to my publisher.
Speaker 2: Today, Beatrix Potter's case characters are still popular. There are
Speaker 2: films still being made about Peter Rabbit. Her work led
Speaker 2: to dance performances, books, and television shows. But Potter's greatest
Speaker 2: achievement is not because of her wealth or influence. Her
Speaker 2: books caused generations to explore the world around them. She
Speaker 2: encouraged them to use their imagination, and she taught about
Speaker 2: the importance of nature.
Speaker 1: Beatrix Potter's books came from her careful study of nature.
Speaker 1: How does Nature inspire you? You can leave a comment
Speaker 1: on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
Speaker 1: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and
Speaker 1: x formerly known as Twitter, or you can get programs
Speaker 1: delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our
Speaker 1: free of Spotlight English app.
Speaker 2: The writer of this program was Dan Chrisman. The producer
Speaker 2: was Michyo Osaki. The voices you heard were from the
Speaker 2: United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted
Speaker 2: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen
Speaker 2: to this program again and read it on the internet
Speaker 2: at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
Speaker 1: This program is called Who Made Peter Rabbit. We hope
Speaker 1: you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye,