This “picture letter” introduces Beatrix Potter and her menagerie of pets. Young Beatrix borrows her neighbor’s guinea pig, Queen Elizabeth, for a model to draw, but she gets distracted from her artwork, and the guinea pig eats most of her art supplies and dies. Beatrix then confesses her mistake and gives her neighbor a little watercolor painting of a guinea pig. Potter’s books and journal entries inspired both the story and the delightful pen and watercolor illustrations. An author’s note includes photographs, more information about Beatrix Potter’s life and work, and the story behind a painting of a guinea pig by Potter that sold for more than $85,000 in 2011. mjw |