116 years before the combination of uncanny valley CGI and the voice of James Corden, a minor Childrens’ publisher put out a small run of picture books about a naughty rabbit. This book immediately lifted its 32-year-old author out of obscurity and went on to be one of the best-sellers of all time.
Before I had kids I found Beatrix Potter’s work to all be a bit too twee and chintsy, too many moral lessons with sweet illustrations, not nearly enough weirdness. These days I’ve come round to it more, it’s a world of its own which is just fine on its own terms.
The History Chicks have a very good podcast talking about the life of Potter, the book is obviously still available everywhere, most of the adaptations are insufferable, but this one is ok, and features a nice framing device with Potter writing the book.