Beatrix Potter loved the countryside and spent much of her childhood drawing and studying animals. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, published in 1902, was her first book, expanded from an illustrated letter she had sent to a young friend. Beatrix Potter went on to publish more than twentytales and collections of rhymes. Potter herself is considered one of the most successful and important figures in children's literaturewho, according to The New Yorker, 'delighted in the detail and humor of the natural world'.
Praise for Beatrix Potter ""Overlooked no more . . . [Beatrix Potter] created one of the world’s best-known characters for children. . . . In her lifetime, Potter went on to write 22 more books, whimsical but razor-sharp stories about soon-to-become enduring characters like Jemima Puddle-Duck and Benjamin Bunny. Her characters, dressed in waistcoats and bonnets, were rendered with meticulous attention to anatomical detail, an outgrowth of Potter’s long interest in natural science."" —The New York Times ""A keen observer of the natural world."" —Smithsonian Magazine