Peter Rabbit is back--just a little bit "older, slower and portlier"--in a long-lost story by beloved British children’s author Beatrix Potter. Jo Hanks, a publisher at Penguin Random House children's books, noticed a reference to the character "Kitty" in a now out-of-print collection of Potter's writings. At the archives of London’s Victoria & Albert museum, she tracked down the never-before-published, not-yet-illustrated The Tale of Kitty in Boots, "the story of 'a well-behaved prime black Kitty cat, who leads rather a double life.'"

According to an interview with Hanks, letters in the archive reveal Potter planned to finish the novel but things--"from the beginning of the First World War, to marriage, to sheep farming, to colds"--just got in the way.

The book will be published in both the U.S. and the U.K. this September, but The Guardian reports people are desperate for more Peter Rabbit in their lives; it was the second bestselling children’s book and eighth bestselling book overall on Amazon today.

Illustrator Quentin Blake, best known for illustrating the works of Roald Dahl, will provide the images. To read a short excerpt of The Tale of Kitty in Boots by Beatrix Potter, visit the publisher's website.

Once upon a time there was a serious, well-behaved young black cat.

It belonged to a kind old lady who assured me that no other cat could compare with Kitty.

She lived in constant fear that Kitty might be stolen — “I hear there is a shocking fashion for black cat-skin muffs; wherever is Kitty gone to? Kitty! Kitty!”

She called it “Kitty”, but Kitty called herself “Miss Catherine St. Quintin”
Cheesebox called her “Q”, and Winkiepeeps called her “Squintums”. They were very common cats. The old lady would have been shocked had she known of the acquaintance.

And she would have been painfully surprised had she ever seen Miss Kitty in a gentleman’s Norfolk jacket, and little fur-lined boots.


Source: Penguin Books