The Tale of Ginger and Pickles

The World of Beatrix Potter #15

by Beatrix Potter

Ginger, a yellow tom-cat, and Pickles, a terrier, run a very popular general store but soon run into trouble because they give everyone unlimited credit.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Classics, Fiction, Animals, Fantasy, Short Stories

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, mycologist, and conservationist who is best known for her children's books, which featured animal characters such as Peter Rabbit.

Born into a wealthy household, Potter was educated by governesses and grew up isolated from other children. She had numerous pets, and through holidays in Scotland and the Lake District, developed a love of landscape, flora, and fauna, all of which she closely observed and painted. Because she was a woman, her parents discouraged intellectual development, but her study and paintings of fungi led her to be widely respected in the field of mycology.

In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children's book The Tale of Peter Rabbit and became secretly engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne, causing a breach with her parents, who disapproved of his social status. Warne died before the wedding.

Potter eventually published 24 children's books, the most recent being The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots (2016), and having become financially independent of her parents, was able to buy a farm in the Lake District, which she extended with other purchases over time.

In her forties, she married a local solicitor, William Heelis. She became a sheep breeder and farmer while continuing to write and illustrate children's books. Potter died in 1943 and left almost all of her property to The National Trust in order to preserve the beauty of the Lake District as she had known it, protecting it from developers.

Potter's books continue to sell well throughout the world, in multiple languages. Her stories have been retold in various formats, including a ballet, films, and in animation.

Reviews

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an odd relationship with Beatrix Potter. Our family owned a few of her famous books, which must belong to my brothers. Susan Wittig Albert authored a series about animals and Beatrix solving mysteries. They follow the timeline of her book-publishing and marriage to Will Heelis. I feel like I know her. Unfortunately, when I read a couple of her stories, I disliked them. Certainly attributable to the corporal discipline mindset of the early 1900s in which they were created, I could not get aboard their infamy and see past the gloomy morals I loathed of “Aesop’s Fables”.

It is enough to go through something trying or scary. No one deserves harsh outcomes merely for an error or emotions getting away from them. I could not believe pictures were drawn of characters being smacked in some of her books. Draw something else! Taking eggs away from “Jemima Puddle-Duck” who wanted to be a Mother, was an idea that angered me most. “The Tale Of Ginger And Pickles” does not end on a high note either and I wonder if that era had a concept of inspiring youth to succeed, by showing success. It is, however, a more innocuous story; if not an odd, grown-up moral to impart.

A cat and dog run a general store and close, due to offering a credit system citizens were loath to repay. Do teach value and fairness but pages and pictures about taxes are hard to understand. Slowly, we learn a balance between generosity and keeping ourselves afloat. However, if wisdom about taking advantage is timely for toddlers, company taxation is not their relatable vehicle. Use a simple life example, with a happy outcome for everyone. Meanwhile, I admire Beatrix immensely as a person: animal advocate, mycologist, conservationist, and artist accurately painting nature.

[Annet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traditional start of the year with a Beatrix Potter story. I liked this one. It's not really a consistent storyline, but charming and a sweet little story nonetheless. I like the combination of simple black/white pen drawings and the familiar full colour drawings of Beatrix Potter. Charming little book.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tale has surprising relevence in today's economy, as Pickles and Ginger run a store that fails--because they give an open credit line to anyone and everyone. Trying to bill the other animals doesn't work, so they close their store and have to find other work. Meanwhile, the other little stores in the story that take cash only survive. Huh.

[Emma Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read to three kiddos I babysat! Their giggles were priceless! 🥰

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the more bizarre Beatrix Potter stories. It seems to have the same themes as previous, but the tone was decidedly different and each paragraph was rather sharp and blunt. There was not as much of the darkness of nature here, either.

It is worth noting, also, that there are far fewer watercolour illustrations and many more of the black-and-white drawings than in previous books.

Whilst the illustrations are on point as ever, they didn't particularly evoke anything except a nostalgia for the previous tales, as we see a lot of the old characters making cameos in this little story.

Despite these, I actually enjoyed the bizarre experience of this book. It was quite a stark difference but still ultimately Beatrix through and through.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I politely disagree with Lesley's review. While the book is strongly slanted in favor of a cash-only economy, it ignores the social value of credit, and too, it ignores the importance of a social safety-net. Dangerously regressive, this book attempts to inculcate a false feeling of financial equality between not only individuals of specific species, but also between all species. Furthermore, it perpetuates harmful stereotypes of terriers and encourages police profiling of same.

I bought it. Well, sort of, I got the free copy produced by scores of volunteers working separately and together to digitize all copyright-free literature. Socialism: 1; capitalism: 0. Hah!

***

Bonkers, but the art is so good. Better than the capitalists' viewpoint.

Personal copy

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd little tale. It felt like a lesson in capitalism. Pickles and Ginger own a general store and they let everyone get things on credit. They never collect the money and so they have no money. The store closes and the animals move on. It is so odd. I guess it is saying you have to be able to collect the money. My niece wasn't as into this one.

[Kimberley doruyter · Rating 5 out of 5]

perhaps my least favorite, but still cute.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Ah yes, such a delightful tale. The kind that makes you want to set up a little shop that sells sugar, and galoshes, and red spotty pockethandkerchiefs at a penny three farthings. (Only I would also sell bootlaces, hair-pins, and mutton chops, and I would not give unlimited credit.) Ginger & Pickles are an amusing pair—especially in their struggles to keep their teeth out of their customers, and Pickles’s issue with a dog-license and policemen—but to be honest my favourite part of the book is the shop and accounting. 😝 Also, it’s too bad the Dormice didn’t get their own story, because Mr. John & Miss D. are so much fun and completely hijacked the end of the story. I would love to hear more about them and Timothy Baker! And, of course, Beatrix Potter’s quaint writing, detailed illustrations, and British humour is the best. 😉

[Fahimeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصه ی گربه و سگ شکاری ای به نام های زنجبیل و ترشی
که مجبور شدن مغازه شون رو ببندن و شغل دیگه ای رو شروع کنن .
اگه میخوای علت تعطیل شدن رو بدونی بهتره که بخونی ش
😊😊😊
کتاب با نمکی بود و داستان آموزنده و تازه ای داشت .

[Chantal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story made no sense because there was no logic in it. It started out good and then there was like another story starting and ending. Nope, not for me!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is why communism doesn’t work, kid. My two-year-old loves this book. Who knew small business taxation could be so captivating. What is the German reference about? Who do the lowly mice represent? Why did they want Ginger and Pickles to move further away from their society? So many questions... I have some theories. I feel like there is some comment on communism vs capitalism at work here, but who knows. When you read the same children’s book multiple times a day, back to back, the mind becomes a desperate, reaching thing.

[Dominick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful and very funny, though minimally narrative, this relatively lesser-known Potter classic treats of Ginger and Pickles, a cat and terrier who run (very poorly) a shop that competes with Miss Tabitha Twitchett's, primarily by giving credit whereas hers does not, Consequently, their sales are significantly higher, but their revenues non-existent, until they go bankrupt. Many very funny, mordant moments, notably after the pair close the business, and we learn that Ginger now lives in "the warrens," and is quite healthy-looking--because, as the picture (but not the text) makes clear, she is living now by trapping and eating the creatures that hitherto were her customers. The tension in Potter between light fun for children and a very clear-eyed understanding of the predatory world of nature (both human and otherwise) is especially evident here. And it doesn't hurt that the book features some remarkably fine illustrations, in both black and white and colour. Potter conceals her sharp satire beneath a very sweet surface.

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

"It would never do to eat our customers they would leave us and go to Tabitha Twitcht's."

I listened to the BBC dramatized version of the book starring Reece Shearsmith and John Henshaw. I enjoy the adaption of the book. It surprised me to hear Reece meow!
The story is about Ginger and Pickles, a cat and terrier, who run a shop (not very well) up against Miss Twitcht's shop. The two give credit to customers while she doesn't. This leads them to a spot of trouble. I found there wasn't much conclusion to the story. Sally Henny Penny offered to help. But er don't know the out come so have to use our imaginations.
I enjoyed the story and it was nice to be visited by old friends such as Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, Samuel Whiskers etc..

[Binibining `E (of The Ugly Writers) · Rating 2 out of 5]

In real life i dont like Ginger and Pickles, i remove them whenever i see them in my food. Haha! Oh well story was a okay, i dont really understand the story, haha i am confused perhaps.. hmmm...

[Andrew “The Weirdling” Glos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange little story, the sort of which is rarely told anymore for kids. Ultimately it is about a cat and a dog who owns a shop and extend unlimited credit to their customers. Their customers end up taking advantage of this situation, ultimately bankrupting the shop owners. What you have in the end is a very Victorian tale about good business acumen and not foolishly extending credit to customers who will not pay you back.

[Galy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story about little animals and their shops.

It was okay but I was expecting a bit more of the story. The illustrations are wonderful.

[Molly-May · Rating 1 out of 5]

The doll people scare me.

[Scarlett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los dibujos: muy lindos as always, pero honestamente no entendí la historia??

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comically odd tale about a dog and a cat that keep store, but due to the fact that they take credit, fall on hard times.

Ages: 3 - 8

Cleanliness: mentions snuff.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tomcat Ginger and the terrier Pickles' village shop fails, as the local community utilizes the unlimited credit without paying their bills. This story includes cameos from multiple characters from the broader Peter Rabbit world. This story might be an allegory about the limitations of market economics set in a 19th century village, as the plot offers no story development besides comparisons with two other successful shops' successful financial business models. Readers seeking an adventurous story might be disappointed by the lack of climax. Readers seeking a new perspective on this fictional series might be entertained by this economic tale.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only i have ever found children's book that teaches children about credit. Very humorous but at first a difficult read only because it was so novel. I keep pausing, thinking 'is it really saying that?'My children are under 5 and I think it was hard to get them involved in the story. It had the cuteness and simplicity of potters other books. It was humorous. The cat badly wanted to eat the mice customers and the dog was in trouble with the law for not renewing his dog license. Of the Potter books I have read, this one probably has the oldest age group in order for them to get the jokes.

[Véronique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a toddler and never read it until now. Being an adult, I am aware that my age group is not the intended audience.

However, the storyline was drier than expected and may be more appropriate to an older audience. It seems to depict capitalism and to promote its’ benefits. A notion that children certainly wouldn’t grasp. Perhaps it’s seriousness can be attributed to the era when the book was published, which I am not accustomed to either.

However, I enjoyed the charming illustrations. They definitely helped lift the spirit of this rather drab storyline.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 1 out of 5]

So Ginger and Pickles own a shop and give everyone credit resulting in them going bankrupt, and everyone is pissed they stay in the neighborhood. Then bitchy chicken takes over the shop and everything is fine and everyone is paid. WTH! It would seem to be a moral on extending credit... but I can't be sure. Also, the doll people are freakin' me out.

[Audryaunna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would have to be my favorite story so far. Eventhough this book is really old it still has some revelance to todays economy. Pickles and Ginger are running a store that fails horribly. They give their customers open credit and that seems to be the downfall of their business.

[Pouline Bjerregaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

In short. A cautionary tale about what happens, when you, as a store owner, give your patrons too much credit.
Another whimsical tale from the universe Beatrix Potter created and with a few cameos of previously presented characters.

[Mariamarta Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

best quote:
'it would not do to eat our own customers!'

This is my favorite Beatrix Potter story.

[RH Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Combines whimsy and weltschmerz with great drawings.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1909 Beatrix Potter foresaw the ways that retailing would go, and these are the lessons I have learnt from her study:
1. Don't give credit.
2. People have no understanding of value-for-money.

[Vaishali · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can you resist stepping into a general store named "Ginger & Pickles" ?