Jugami Storybooks

Storybooks · Grades K–2

The Pie and the Patty-Pan

Ribby the cat asks Duchess the dog to tea, and two pies get very mixed up! A story by Beatrix Potter, from her 1905 picture book.

At a tea party in a cosy kitchen, Ribby the tabby cat stands on one side of the table and Duchess the little black dog stands on the other with a lump of sugar on her nose. A pie in a pink and white dish sits on the table, next to the oven with two doors.

🥧 The story in brief

Ribby the cat invites Duchess the little dog to tea, and bakes a pie. Duchess is afraid it will be a mouse pie, so she secretly puts her own veal and ham pie into Ribby's top oven. But Ribby's pie is already in the bottom oven!

At tea Duchess eats Ribby's pie by mistake. When she cannot find her patty-pan, she thinks she has swallowed it, and Ribby fetches Dr. Maggotty the magpie. In the end the magpie eats Duchess's pie, and Ribby finds the patty-pan in her yard.

📖 The story, part by part

Tap “Read it to me” to listen, or read each part with a grown-up. The green boxes show Beatrix Potter's own words.

  1. Part 1

    An invitation to tea

    Ribby the cat wrote a letter to a little dog called Duchess. She asked Duchess to come to tea, and said she was baking something very nice in a pie-dish with a pink rim.

    Duchess wrote back that she would come at a quarter past four. But she was worried. What if Ribby's pie was a mouse pie? Cats like mice, but Duchess did not want to eat one!

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “I am dreadfully afraid it will be mouse!”

  2. Part 2

    Duchess has a plan

    Duchess had made a pie of her own, with veal and ham. It was in a pink and white pie-dish too, just like Ribby's.

    She had put a little tin patty-pan inside it to hold up the crust. A patty-pan is a tiny metal baking tin.

    Then Duchess had an idea. She would sneak her own pie into Ribby's oven while Ribby was out shopping. Then she could eat her own pie at the party!

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “Duchess was quite delighted with her own cleverness!”

  3. Part 3

    Two ovens

    Ribby put her pie into the bottom oven. Her oven had two doors, one above the other.

    Then Ribby tidied her house, set the table, and went out to the village shop.

    On the way she passed Duchess, who was carrying a basket with a cloth over it.

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “They only bowed to one another; they did not speak, because they were going to have a party.”

    Then Duchess ran to Ribby's house. She put her pie into the top oven. She looked everywhere for Ribby's pie, but she could not find it. When she heard Ribby coming, she ran out of the back door.

  4. Part 4

    Tea time

    At a quarter past four, Duchess came to the party with some flowers for Ribby. Ribby poured the tea.

    Duchess asked for some sugar:

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “may I have a lump upon my nose?”

    Duchess dropped the sugar and went to find it under the table. So she did not see which oven Ribby opened to get out the pie.

  5. Part 5

    Where is the patty-pan?

    Ribby gave the pie to Duchess and ate muffins herself. Duchess ate four helpings of pie! Then she looked for her patty-pan.

    “There isn't a patty-pan,” said Ribby. She had not put one in her pie.

    Duchess could not find it anywhere. She thought she must have swallowed it, and she felt very poorly. So Ribby went to fetch the doctor, Dr. Maggotty the magpie. She found him at the blacksmith's.

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “Gammon? ha! HA!”

  6. Part 6

    The pie in the top oven

    While Ribby was gone, Duchess went to look in the oven. She opened the top door.

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “there stood a fine brown pie”

    It was her own pie, with the little patty-pan still inside! Duchess had not swallowed a patty-pan after all. She had been eating Ribby's pie.

    Duchess did not want to explain. She hid her pie outside the back door, and sat by the fire with her eyes shut.

    Dr. Maggotty gave Duchess a pill that was only made of bread. Then Ribby gave him some bread and jam and sent him out into the yard.

  7. Part 7

    Next time

    Duchess said goodbye and started home. Then she crept back to fetch her pie. But Dr. Maggotty and three jackdaws were on the roof of the pig-sty, eating it up!

    Duchess ran home feeling very silly.

    Later, Ribby found a smashed pink and white pie-dish in her yard, and the patty-pan under the pump. She was amazed.

    Beatrix Potter wrote: “Next time I want to give a party—I will invite Cousin Tabitha Twitchit!”

💛 Big idea

Duchess never said, “I would rather not eat mouse pie.” Instead she made a secret swap, and it turned into a big muddle: a lost patty-pan, a fright, a doctor and a smashed pie-dish. If she had told Ribby kindly, they could just have shared a nice tea.

🐱 Meet the characters

🥧 What happened?

What a mixed-up tea party! Look at each picture, read the clue, and tap the right answer.

For grown-ups: every clue comes from Beatrix Potter's story. Tap 🔈 to hear each one.

1. What did Ribby send to Duchess?

2. What did Duchess put inside her own pie?

3. Which oven did Ribby bake her pie in?

4. What did Duchess ask to have on her nose?

5. What did Ribby eat at the party, while Duchess ate the pie?

6. What did Dr. Maggotty bring for Duchess?

Score: 0 of 6

🔤 New words

🐶 The Pie and the Patty-Pan quiz

How much do you remember? Tap the right answer for each question.

For grown-ups: each question has a 🔈 button so pre-readers can hear it. Works with a keyboard too (Tab to move, Enter to choose).

1. What kind of animal is Ribby?

2. What was in Duchess's own pie?

3. Why did Duchess think she had swallowed the patty-pan?

4. What kind of bird is Dr. Maggotty?

5. Where was Duchess's pie all along?

6. Who does Ribby say she will invite next time?

Score: 0 of 6

💬 Let's talk about it

There are no wrong answers. Talk with a grown-up or a friend.

✏️ About Beatrix Potter and her book