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Children have been reading and enjoying Beatrix Potter Books since 1902. You might recognize some of the more popular stories such as Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny. Most of her other stories utilize a similar template based on animal characters interacting as human beings which have drawn comparisons to Aesop’s fables. Potter, however, had a very specific and somewhat distinct vision for her own books.

Beatrix Potter had virtually full creative control and carte blanch in the branding and content of her stories. All of the illustrations for her books were drawn by her and were considered quite accurate as well. In a few cases, the pictures were so detailed that they became the focus more so than even the stories for which they were drawn.

The specifics and workings of her personal life would often provide inspiration for the plots and settings of her books. In the Tale of Ginger and Pickles for example the two main characters were dealing with business issues such as how to turn a profit and how to handle customers. This happened to be precisely what Potter was managing at the time as she was focusing more on how to market her books and who to market them to. She also used gardens as models for her pictures and pets and other animals she was surrounded with as character models.

Potter also frequently used recurring characters in many of her stories. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies featured her most popular character Peter Rabbit, but not as a primary character. Peter Rabbit really only had a cameo. Benjamin Bunny, who was the cousin of Peter Rabbit, also played the title character in The Tale of Benjamin Bunny. This was an effective form of cross promotion, however Potter did do this in every story, as evidenced in The Tale of Pigling Bland.

Beatrix Potter’s strategy was effective enough to achieve her financial freedom and garner the interest of some famous writers and other popular historical personalities. One popular Winnie the Pooh story premise where Pooh gets stuck in a hole after eating too much was actually first used in a Beatrix Potter story. Even the well known animator and theme park creator Walt Disney, who had already purchased the rights to the Wind in the Willows and Winnie the Pooh, took notice of Potter’s work with an offer. Potter ultimately refused deciding to retain ownership and control of her work.

There are common themes in many Beatrix Potter books. For example; The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies, and The Tale of Pigling Bland among most of her other books follow an identical title formula. The characters were always animals acting completely human. Additionally, many of the books have recurring characters. Though she would eventually grow tired of writing children’s tales, she purposefully and decidedly developed and sustained this formula almost without fail throughout her career.