6. Beatrix Potter, author/illustrator.
The Roly-poly Pudding.
London, New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1908.
When Tom Kitten goes exploring between the walls of his home (actually Potter's house at Hill Top Farm), he falls through the floor boards into the nest of the rat Samuel Whiskers and his wife Anna Maria. The couple wastes no time tying up the frightened, disoriented kitten so they can turn him into a roly-poly pudding (see FoodTimeLine).
This scene, in which the tables are turned and the predator finds himself the prey, may be one of the most terrifying in the Peter Rabbit books. Find out if Anna Maria and Samuel Whiskers enjoy this delicacy by visiting Project Gutenberg.
Samuel Whiskers was a real rat, whom Potter rather admired for being such an adroit thief. In one of her letters she describes how he pulled up strips of wall paper and carried them away. (Image Credits)
