The Tale of Tom Kitten

Hello,

Hello!

My name is Jessica Amos and today I am here to read you the Tale of Tom Kitten by Beatrix Potter.

This book,

I believe,

Let's see when this book was written because it was written a long time ago.

In 1907.

This book was written in 1907,

So 120 years ago this book was written and the illustrations are adorable and the storytelling is just so cute and fun,

So I hope you really,

Really enjoy it.

Make yourself so comfortable,

Get blankets and pillows and just settle in for a nice cozy time and enjoy.

Yeah.

Okay,

Here we go.

The Tale of Tom Kitten by Beatrix Potter.

Once upon a time,

There were three little kittens and their names were Mittens,

Tom Kitten,

And Moppet.

They had dear little fur coats of their own and they tumbled about the doorstep and played in the dust.

But one day,

Their mother,

Mrs.

Tabitha Twitchit,

Twitchit,

Mrs.

Tabitha Twitchit expected friends to tea,

So she fetched the kittens indoors to wash and dress them before the fine company arrived.

Oh,

There they are.

So cute.

First,

She scrubbed their faces.

This one is Moppet.

Then she brushed their fur.

This one is Mittens.

Then she combed their tails and whiskers.

This is Tom Kitten.

Tom was very naughty and he scratched.

Okay,

So here we have Moppet and which one is this?

Mittens here and Tom Kitten.

All getting washed up,

Ready for company.

Mrs.

Tabitha dressed Moppet and Mittens in clean pinafores and tuckers and then she took all sorts of elegant,

Uncomfortable clothes out of a chest of drawers in order to dress up her son,

Thomas.

Tom Kitten was very fat and he had grown and several buttons burst off.

His mother sewed them on again.

Uh-oh.

His clothes don't fit him anymore.

When the three kittens were ready,

Mrs.

Tabitha unwisely turned them out into the garden to be out of the way while she made hot buttered toast.

Now keep your frocks clean,

Children.

You must walk on your hind legs.

Keep away from the dirty ash pit and from Sally,

Henny,

Penny and from the pigsty and the puddle ducks.

Moppet and Mittens walked down the garden path unsteadily.

Presently,

They trod upon their pinafores and fell on their noses.

When they stood up,

There were several green smears.

Uh-oh.

There they are.

They fell down on their dresses.

Let us climb up the rockery and sit on the garden wall,

Said Moppet.

They turned their pinafores back to front and went up with a skip and a jump.

Moppet's white tucker fell down into the road.

Tom Kitten was quite unable to jump when walking upon his hind legs and trousers.

He came to the rockery by degrees,

Breaking the ferns and shedding buttons right and left.

Here they go.

He was all in pieces when he reached the top of the wall.

Moppet and Mittens tried to pull him together.

His hat fell off and the rest of his buttons burst.

While they were in difficulties,

There was a pit pat puddle pat and the three puddle ducks came along the hard high road,

Marching one behind the other and doing the goose step.

Pit,

Pat,

Paddle pat.

Pit,

Pat,

Waddle pat.

Oh,

Here come the goose,

The geese.

They stopped and stood in a row and stared up at the kittens.

They had very small eyes and looked surprised.

Then the two duck birds,

Rebecca and Jemima Puddle Duck,

Picked up the hat and tucker and put them on.

Mittens laughed so that she fell off the wall.

Moppet and Tom descended after her.

The pinafores and all the rest of Tom's clothes came off on the way down.

Come,

Mr.

Drake Puddle Duck,

Said Moppet.

Come and help us to dress him.

Come and button up Tom.

Mr.

Drake Puddle Duck advanced in a slow sideways manner and picked up the various articles,

But he put them on himself.

They fitted him even worse than Tom Kitten.

It's a very fine morning,

Said Mr.

Drake Puddle Duck.

Look at now the ducks are wearing all the kittens' clothes.

And he and Jemima and Rebecca Puddle Duck set off up the road,

Keeping step.

Pit,

Pat,

Paddle pat.

Pit,

Pat,

Waddle pat.

Then Tabitha Twitchit came down the garden and found her kittens on the wall with no clothes on.

She pulled them off the wall,

Smacked them and took them back to the house.

My friends will arrive in a minute and you are not fit to be seen.

I am affronted,

Said Mrs.

Tabitha Twitchit.

She sent them upstairs and I am sorry to say,

She told her friends that they were in bed with the measles,

Which was not true.

Quite the contrary,

They were not in bed,

Not in the least.

Somehow they were very extraordinary noises overhead,

Which disturbed the dignity and repose of the tea party.

And I think that someday I shall have to make another larger book to tell you more about Tom Kitten.

The children,

The little kittens did not go to the tea party.

They made a mess upstairs instead.

As for the Puddle Ducks,

They went into the pond.

The clothes all came off directly because there were no buttons.

And Mr.

Drake Puddle Duck and Jemima and Rebecca have been looking for them ever since.

Aww,

Cute.

The end.

The Tale of Tom Kitten by Beatrix Potter.

Thank you so much for listening to this book and joining me for this reading.

I would love to know what you think about it and welcome you to come back and listen as much as feels good to you.

In the meantime,

May you stay with yourself today and always.

Bye.