The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
story · 1906 · 5 min read
How we estimate the level
We compare average sentence length and book vocabulary with the course words through this level. This is an estimate, not a test of your level.
Synopsis
Mr. Jeremy Fisher, a frog who lives at the edge of a pond, goes out in his lily-leaf boat to catch minnows for dinner with his friends. Nothing goes right: he catches a spiny stickleback instead, and then a huge trout grabs him in its mouth and dives. Luckily the trout hates the taste of his raincoat and spits him out, and Mr. Jeremy hops home and serves his guests something very different from fish.
About this book
This is one of the shortest books in the library, and one of the funniest. The estimated level is A2: the sentences are short and the story follows one fishing trip from start to finish. The fishing words (rod, line, float, bait) come one after another, so they are easy to picture even if they are new. Mr. Jeremy also says what he plans to do before he does it, which makes the will future easy to notice: "I will get some worms and go fishing". The names of his friends are jokes: Sir Isaac Newton is a newt, and the Alderman is a tortoise.
Opening excerpt
Once upon a time there was a frog called Mr. Jeremy Fisher; he lived in a little damp house amongst the buttercups at the edge of a pond. The water was all slippy-sloppy in the larder and in the back passage.Key vocabulary
a small green animal that jumps and lives near water
a small area of still water
trying to catch fish
a very small fish
a long thin stick used for fishing
a large fish that lives in rivers and lakes
an old word for a raincoat
a small cool room where food is kept
Lines from the book
“I will get some worms and go fishing and catch a dish of minnows for my dinner”“What a mercy that was not a pike!”“But the trout was so displeased with the taste of the macintosh, that in less than half a minute it spat him out again”About the author
Beatrix Potter (1866–1943) was an English writer, illustrator and naturalist. She drew frogs, fish and insects from life, and her stories mix real animal behavior with human clothes, homes and manners. Most of her small books first appeared in the years before the First World War.
Frequently asked questions
What level of English do I need for Mr. Jeremy Fisher?
We estimate A2. The sentences are short and the story follows one simple trip. Some fishing words may be new, but the key vocabulary on this page covers the main ones.
How long does it take to read?
The story has about 850 words, so most learners read it in about five minutes.
Who are Sir Isaac Newton and the Alderman?
They are Mr. Jeremy's friends. Sir Isaac Newton is a newt (a small animal like a lizard that lives in water), a joke on the name of the scientist, and Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise is a tortoise.
Is this the original text?
Yes. It is Beatrix Potter's original text from 1906, with British spelling. The edition contains the text without the pictures.
