If, as it sometimes seems, there is a campaign underway to discourage interest in reading, it is making progress in England. A rewritten edition of Beatrix Potter`s ”Tale of Peter Rabbit” just published there should convince any child that books are boring.
Compared with the original, the new version is both tasteless and soundless. Peter`s feet, for example, no longer go ”lippity-lippity” when he runs; Mr. McGregor`s hoe makes no interesting noises like ”scr-r-ritch, scratch”; Peter`s tell-tale sneeze is just a sneeze, not a ”Kertyschoo!”
The British editors seem to have used a method popular in this country: They took out every hint of freshness or originality in Mrs. Potter`s work and substituted their own scientifically tested prose, which is to story-telling what baby formula is to food.
The publishers, Ladybird Books, contend that their version will appeal to a ”wider audience”-the reason usually given for turning an endearing classic into a plodding bore. Publishers of children`s books seem to know vast numbers of children who prefer stories badly told. How is it we never meet any?
