Sunday, June 7, 2020

Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow



2003, pre-school, ages 3-5  
This book was originally published in 1901 in Sweden. The pictures and the story are delightfully old-fashioned.  Peter wears a smock over short trousers.   As always in good picture books the pictures tell more of the story.       
There is rather more text than in a modern picture book. The text uses a serif font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  Oddly, every other page is blank. 
Peter is looking for cranberries and blueberries to give his mother on her birthday but there are none to be found.  He is helped by the King of Blueberry Land and Mrs Cranberry.  (Are blueberries more important than cranberries and / or men more important than women?)  Anthropomorphic animals also help. 
There is a fantasy element; Peter is shrunk to the size of the blueberry and cranberry children then returns to his normal size easily at the end of the story.     
Friendship is a strong theme here. 

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