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Great moments in kid lit (1)

Published November 13th, 2007 in Kid lit, Mostly a picture.

“Miss Moppet ties up her
head in a duster, and sits
before the fire.”

In honor of Children’s Book Week, I inaugurate an occasional series.

This is from Beatrix Potter’s Miss Moppet, and the most astute commentary I can offer is, “Huh?”

12 Responses to “Great moments in kid lit (1)”

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  1. 1 Studying Stones Nov 13th, 2007 at

    Maybe Miss Moppet doesn’t want her weave to get messed up? =P

  2. 2 Vikki Nov 13th, 2007 at

    What?! You don’t do that. There’s nothing I like more than sitting before the fire with me head in a duster.

  3. 3 theredbaron Nov 14th, 2007 at

    I have two wild guesses…I mean, deeply thought out hypotheses. 1) The fire is hot and Miss Moppet doesn’t want to singe her whiskers. 2) In the time the book was written fires were fueled by coal, which created a lot of soot. Miss Moppet, being a tidy cat, doesn’t want to soil her lungs or her fur with such nastiness. Imagine all the licking it would require to reclaim her natural beauty.

    Of course, what I’m really wondering is how she tied the knot in that duster without opposable thumbs?

  4. 4 Chumpy Nov 14th, 2007 at

    How about…..’Always establish an escape route before playing with the cat!’

    or…..’Hairball prevention: the belt and braces approach’.

  5. 5 ohchicken Nov 14th, 2007 at

    clearly little miss moppet has allergies that are exacerbated by the sooty fire. unfortunately, studies are thus far inconclusive regarding feline use of claritin.

  6. 6 LesbianDad Nov 14th, 2007 at

    Vikki, I choked for a good while there. “Me head.” “Me head.” That’s the best part.

    The hypotheses are fantastic. I totally will not spoil all the fun with any details about the context in which this event unfolded (though I will say that it still dumbfounded me upon first reading, and then again for pert’ near a half a dozen more). Or at least not until a few more intrepid souls have a chance to hazard a guess as to what in the Sam Hill Miss Moppet was up to.

  7. 7 annz Nov 14th, 2007 at

    Maybe she’s indulged in just a little too much catnip (her joints really feel the cold, you know), and likes the way the flames look through the weave of the cloth…

  8. 8 theredbaron Nov 14th, 2007 at

    Yeah, annz. It’s like a “magic eye” picture for cats! If they just stare really hard into the flames, then slightly unfocus their eyes…BAM! I’ts Dante’s “Inferno” being acted out by mice! :)

  9. 9 LesbianDad Nov 14th, 2007 at

    Okay, so to summarize so far, we have:

      • hair protection device (muss prevention)
      • whisker protection device (singe prevention)
      • hair protection device (soot prevention)
      • predator protection device (employed by mice)
      • hairball protection device (employed by Miss Moppet)
      • allergen protection device (effectiveness of feline Claritin: inconclusive)
      • aid to post-catnip trippin’
      • ditto, except thematized to include great literary works featuring flames

    Then we have one exclamation of surprise that we don’t all do this daily.

  10. 10 violetta Nov 14th, 2007 at

    I could not resist…I read the Moppet tome in it’s entirety to gain some context, some insight, some flicker of “what could this possibly be about?”. And it’s a ruse! Ms Moppet is up to no good, no good at all…bad kitty.

  11. 11 LesbianDad Nov 14th, 2007 at

    Youbetcha by gum. You sly literary detective, you.
    Beneath that duster lies the duplicitous heart of a Trojan Horse.

  12. 12 IrreverendAmy Nov 17th, 2007 at

    I guess I can’t play because I’ve read it and know exactly why Miss Moppet has her head in a duster.

    My favorite bit comes later, when she discovers the hole in the duster.

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