My mother had a Peter Rabbit on her bedside table when I was growing up. Not a toy exactly — more of an object, a presence, something that had been there so long it had become part of the room. She'd had it since she was a child. I grew up with Beatrix Potter the way some children grow up with fairy tales — as a given, a background, a world that was simply there. When my daughter was born, buying her a Peter Rabbit felt less like a choice and more like a continuation. The Peter Rabbit Deluxe Soft Toy from Rainbow Brands is the one I chose, and it has been exactly right.
Why Peter Rabbit
I want to say something about Beatrix Potter before I talk about the toy, because I think it matters. Peter Rabbit is one of the oldest continuously loved children's characters in the world. The story has been in print since 1902. It's been read to children by parents who were read to by their own parents, across generations and across cultures, and it has survived because it's genuinely good — the illustrations are beautiful, the story is simple and true, and the character of Peter is one that children recognise immediately: curious, a little naughty, fundamentally good-hearted. Giving a child a Peter Rabbit toy is giving them a connection to something that has mattered to children for over a century. That's not nothing.
Finding the Right One
I found the Peter Rabbit Deluxe Soft Toy in the Toys collection on ALTOE. There are many Peter Rabbit soft toys available, and the quality varies enormously. The Rainbow Brands Deluxe version is distinguished by the quality of its construction: finest fabrics, beautiful trimmings and details, bespoke labels, and a special Peter Rabbit pattern. The bean-filled tummy gives him a satisfying weight and softness that cheaper versions don't have. The long limbs are designed to be easy for little ones to hold onto, which is a practical detail that matters when the toy is going to be carried everywhere.
The word "deluxe" in the name is doing real work here. This is not a mass-produced toy that happens to look like Peter Rabbit. It's a carefully made object that happens to be a toy — the kind of thing that will survive being loved hard for years and still look like something worth keeping.
My Daughter and Peter
My daughter is eighteen months old. She received Peter Rabbit at her naming ceremony when she was three months old — a gift from my mother, who chose it without knowing I'd been looking at the same toy. He sat on her shelf for the first few months, more decoration than companion. Then, at around seven months, she noticed him. She reached for him. She held him. He has been her constant companion since.
He goes everywhere. He goes to nursery in her bag. He goes to my parents' house at the weekend. He goes to bed with her every night and is the first thing she looks for in the morning. The long limbs are exactly right for an eighteen-month-old — she carries him by one ear, drags him by one leg, holds him against her chest with both arms. He has survived all of this. The blue jacket is intact. The face is unchanged. The bean-filled tummy is as soft as it was on day one.
The Intergenerational Thing
My mother came to visit last month. She sat on the floor with my daughter and Peter Rabbit, and they read The Tale of Peter Rabbit together — my mother reading, my daughter turning the pages with the focused concentration of someone who doesn't yet understand the words but understands that this is important. My mother had tears in her eyes. I had tears in my eyes. My daughter was entirely focused on the pictures.
That moment is what I bought the toy for, even though I didn't know it when I bought it. The toy is a connection — between my daughter and my mother, between my daughter and a story that has been loved for over a century, between my daughter and the version of childhood that I want her to have. A plastic toy from a film franchise can't do that. Peter Rabbit can.
My Recommendation
If you're looking for a gift for a new baby, or for a child who is old enough to have a companion toy, the Peter Rabbit Deluxe Soft Toy from Rainbow Brands is the one to buy. The quality is genuinely deluxe — it will survive being loved hard and still look like something worth keeping. The character is genuinely timeless — it connects a child to a story that has been loved for over a century. And if you grew up with Beatrix Potter yourself, giving this to a child you love is a way of passing something on that matters.
You'll find it in the Toys collection and the broader Toys & Games range on ALTOE. Buy it. Read the book alongside it. Watch what happens.
— Catherine Aldridge, archivist, Beatrix Potter devotee, mother of one eighteen-month-old who carries a rabbit everywhere she goes, Oxford
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