The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse
Encyclopedia
The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse is a children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter
and first published by Frederick Warne & Co
. in December 1918
. The tale is based on the Aesop fable
, "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
" and tells of a country mouse and a city mouse who visit each other in their respective homes. After sampling the other's way of life, both express a decided preference for their own. The book was critically well received. The Johnny Town-mouse character appeared in a 1971 ballet film, and the tale has been adapted to a BBC television animated series.
Timmy is made welcome – and tries his best to fit in, but finds the noises made by the house cat and the maid frightening and the rich food difficult to digest. He returns via the hamper to his country home after extending an invitation to Johnny Town-mouse to visit him.
The following spring, Johnny Town-mouse pays Timmy Willie a visit. He complains of the dampness and finds such things as cows and lawnmowers frightening. He returns to the city in the hamper of vegetables after telling Timmy country life is too quiet. The tale ends with the author stating her own preference for country living.
to develop her designs with the expectation the book would be published by Warne. The publisher doubted the originality of the plot and rejected the book, which was just as well because Potter was disappointed with Aris's work.
In 1917, Potter was too busy with the business of operating Hill Top Farm
to give her publisher's request for a new story much attention, but, early in 1918, she proposed a tale adapted from a fable by Aesop
. Johnny Town-Mouse was the only book of her later years for which Potter prepared a whole set of new drawings. A dummy book was prepared but the title Timmy Willie was rejected as well as The Tale of a Country Mouse. When The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse was finally settled upon, the story's opening line – "Timmy Willie went to town by mistake in a hamper" – was, of necessity, changed to "Johnny Town-Mouse was born in a cupboard. Timmy Willie was born in a garden."
In May 1918, Potter sent her publisher six drawings for the new book while managing various problems at the farm and attending her brother Bertram's funeral. She confessed that working with real animals forced her to "despise paper-book-animals". The last drawings were ready in August 1918 as World War I
was coming to a close. The book was published in December 1918 bearing the dedication, "To Aesop in the shadows".
, a village two miles distant from Sawrey. Bolton received vegetables every week from Sawrey and sent back laundry. A Mrs. Rogerson of Sawrey was the model for the housemaid and the illustration of the archway was drawn from life. Potter owned an early edition of Gerard's Herbal and Timmy Willie's herb pudding was probably Easter Ledger Pudding of bistort, dandelion, lady's mantle and other springtime herbs. The dish remained popular in the Lake District well into modern days. Potter's failing eyesight forced her to discontinue painting after Johnny Town-Mouse.
wrote: "Another volume for the Peter Rabbit bookshelf. Oh, such charming pictures and exciting letter press! [...] Miss Potter need not worry about rivals. She has none. Johnny Town-Mouse does even so accomplished an artist and writer as herself much credit."
Animal moral tales with their dramatic and psychological simplicity lend themselves easily to illustration and proliferated in the 19th century. In their symbolic qualities, many of Potter's animal characters trace their ancestry to Aesop's bestiary. Like Aesop, Potter observed human and animal behaviour with unsentimental common sense and wisdom,but, unlike Aesop, she is not as neutral in her presentation of country versus city life. Her preference is obvious: the rural scenes are depicted from mouse-eye view with mouth-watering depictions of fruit and flowers, but the urban scenes are generally depicted from the human-eye level and justify Timmie Willie's fears of loud noise and huge objects. The reader cannot help but share (or envy) Potter's preference for country life when she presents it so attractively.
Potter makes it clear that Timmy Willie is justified in fearing the cat and the maid in the town house because they are his mortal enemies. Johnny Town-mouse however displays little discrimination in fearing the cows that provide milk for Timmy Willie's table or the "fearful racket" of the lawnmower that provides grass clippings for his bed. In the illustrations, Potter underscores the absurdity of Johnny's fears by placing both the cows and the lawnmower in the distance and never close enough to be threats.
In children's literature (for whatever reasons), country life is generally adjudged far healthier for the young than city life. Nostalgia for the purity and innocence of childhood and a longing for a distant past when life was believed simpler often colour this particular conception of country life. Potter chose to make this conception of the past her way of life when she left the complexities of London life for the simple life in the village of Sawrey. Her depiction of the pleasures of country life in Johnny Town-Mouse places her in the literary tradition of the nostalgic and the reminiscent.
. In 1995, an animated adaptation of the tale was telecast on the BBC
anthology series, The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
starring the voices of Hugh Laurie
as Johnny Town-mouse and Alan Bennett
as Timmy Willie.
Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
and first published by Frederick Warne & Co
Frederick Warne & Co
Frederick Warne & Co was a British publishing firm famous for children's books, particularly those of Beatrix Potter. It was founded in 1865 by a bookseller, who gave his own name to the firm.- History :...
. in December 1918
1918 in literature
The year 1918 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The 2nd annual Pulitzer Prizes are awarded.* Author Hall Caine made a KBE.*Robert Graves marries Nancy Nicholson...
. The tale is based on the Aesop fable
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
, "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
"The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" is one of Aesop's Fables. It is number 352 in the Perry Index and type 112 in Aarne-Thompson's folk tale index. Like several other elements in Aesop's fables, 'town mouse and country mouse' has become an English idiom....
" and tells of a country mouse and a city mouse who visit each other in their respective homes. After sampling the other's way of life, both express a decided preference for their own. The book was critically well received. The Johnny Town-mouse character appeared in a 1971 ballet film, and the tale has been adapted to a BBC television animated series.
Plot
Timmy Willie is a country mouse who falls asleep in a hamper of vegetables and is carried to the city. When the hamper is opened, Timmy escapes to find himself in a large house. He slips through a hole in the skirting board and lands in the midst of a mouse dinner party hosted by Johnny Town-mouse.Timmy is made welcome – and tries his best to fit in, but finds the noises made by the house cat and the maid frightening and the rich food difficult to digest. He returns via the hamper to his country home after extending an invitation to Johnny Town-mouse to visit him.
The following spring, Johnny Town-mouse pays Timmy Willie a visit. He complains of the dampness and finds such things as cows and lawnmowers frightening. He returns to the city in the hamper of vegetables after telling Timmy country life is too quiet. The tale ends with the author stating her own preference for country living.
Composition and publication
In 1916, Potter wrote a tale called The Oakmen in a story letter to her niece Nancy, and, as a result of her failing eyesight, commissioned Ernest ArisErnest Aris
Alfred Ernest Walter George Aris, FZS. SGA. , was an author and illustrator of children's books. He worked on more than 170 publications. Ernest Aris also designed cigarette cards, postcards, toys and games.-Early life:...
to develop her designs with the expectation the book would be published by Warne. The publisher doubted the originality of the plot and rejected the book, which was just as well because Potter was disappointed with Aris's work.
In 1917, Potter was too busy with the business of operating Hill Top Farm
Hill Top, Cumbria
Hill Top is a 17th-century house in Near Sawrey near Hawkshead, in the English county of Cumbria. It is an example of Lakeland vernacular architecture with random stone walls and slate roof...
to give her publisher's request for a new story much attention, but, early in 1918, she proposed a tale adapted from a fable by Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...
. Johnny Town-Mouse was the only book of her later years for which Potter prepared a whole set of new drawings. A dummy book was prepared but the title Timmy Willie was rejected as well as The Tale of a Country Mouse. When The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse was finally settled upon, the story's opening line – "Timmy Willie went to town by mistake in a hamper" – was, of necessity, changed to "Johnny Town-Mouse was born in a cupboard. Timmy Willie was born in a garden."
In May 1918, Potter sent her publisher six drawings for the new book while managing various problems at the farm and attending her brother Bertram's funeral. She confessed that working with real animals forced her to "despise paper-book-animals". The last drawings were ready in August 1918 as World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
was coming to a close. The book was published in December 1918 bearing the dedication, "To Aesop in the shadows".
Illustrations
Illustrations are rife with models from Potter's real life. Potter's farm horse Diamond was the model for the carrier's horse and her husband's friend Dr. Parsons was the inspiration for Johnny Town-Mouse. The two men had a private golf course built at Sawrey and Johnny Town-Mouse is shown toting a bag of golf clubs in the book's cover picture. The town mice live in the house of a Mr. Bolton at HawksheadHawkshead
Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in the Cumbria, England. It is one of the main tourist honeypots in the South Lakeland area, and is dependent on the local tourist trade...
, a village two miles distant from Sawrey. Bolton received vegetables every week from Sawrey and sent back laundry. A Mrs. Rogerson of Sawrey was the model for the housemaid and the illustration of the archway was drawn from life. Potter owned an early edition of Gerard's Herbal and Timmy Willie's herb pudding was probably Easter Ledger Pudding of bistort, dandelion, lady's mantle and other springtime herbs. The dish remained popular in the Lake District well into modern days. Potter's failing eyesight forced her to discontinue painting after Johnny Town-Mouse.
Critical reception
The BookmanThe Bookman (London)
The Bookman was a monthly magazine published in London from 1891 until 1934 by Hodder & Stoughton. It was a catalogue of their current publications that also contained reviews, advertising and illustrations....
wrote: "Another volume for the Peter Rabbit bookshelf. Oh, such charming pictures and exciting letter press! [...] Miss Potter need not worry about rivals. She has none. Johnny Town-Mouse does even so accomplished an artist and writer as herself much credit."
Commentaries
Johnny Town-Mouse was the last of Potter's books in her early style. The rural scenes inspired Potter's best designs, and the author struck the right tone for children while incorporating subtler touches for adults. The book is a satire on human society, and a warning about the dangers and extravagances of life in the city.Potter makes it clear that Timmy Willie is justified in fearing the cat and the maid in the town house because they are his mortal enemies. Johnny Town-mouse however displays little discrimination in fearing the cows that provide milk for Timmy Willie's table or the "fearful racket" of the lawnmower that provides grass clippings for his bed. In the illustrations, Potter underscores the absurdity of Johnny's fears by placing both the cows and the lawnmower in the distance and never close enough to be threats.
In children's literature (for whatever reasons), country life is generally adjudged far healthier for the young than city life. Nostalgia for the purity and innocence of childhood and a longing for a distant past when life was believed simpler often colour this particular conception of country life. Potter chose to make this conception of the past her way of life when she left the complexities of London life for the simple life in the village of Sawrey. Her depiction of the pleasures of country life in Johnny Town-Mouse places her in the literary tradition of the nostalgic and the reminiscent.
Adaptations
In 1971, Johnny Town-mouse and his friends appeared as characters in the ballet film, The Tales of Beatrix PotterThe Tales of Beatrix Potter
Tales of Beatrix Potter is a 1971 ballet film with a plot based on the children's stories of English author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. The film was directed by Reginald Mills, choreographed by Sir Frederick Ashton , and starred artists of the Royal Ballet...
. In 1995, an animated adaptation of the tale was telecast on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
anthology series, The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is an animated television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. It was originally shown in the UK on BBC between 1992 and 1995 and subsequently broadcast in the USA on...
starring the voices of Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
as Johnny Town-mouse and Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
as Timmy Willie.
External links
- The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse at LibriVoxLibriVoxLibriVox is an online digital library of free public domain audiobooks, read by volunteers and is probably, since 2007, the world's most prolific audiobook publisher...