Peter Rabbit and Family — Beatrix Potter (The Tale of Peter Rabbit)

The most famous rabbit family in the world

In her blue dress and white apron, a basket on her arm, Mrs Rabbit leans over her three good little daughters, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, snug in their red cloaks. A little apart, in his blue jacket with brass buttons, stands Peter, already looking like a rabbit with plans of his own. This is the opening of The Tale of Peter Rabbit: the moment when Mrs Rabbit sends her children out to play, with one strict warning: never go into Mr McGregor's garden, where their father once met a very unfortunate end. The girls will go blackberrying down the lane. Peter, of course, will head straight for the garden.

From an illustrated letter to a worldwide classic

Peter Rabbit was born in 1893, in an illustrated letter Beatrix Potter wrote to Noel Moore, the young son of her former governess, who was ill in bed. Named after Potter's own pet rabbit, Peter Piper, the story first appeared in a privately printed edition, then was published by Frederick Warne in 1902. More than a century later, it remains one of the best-selling children's books of all time, loved for Potter's watercolours, as precise as a naturalist's studies and as tender as a lullaby.

Why it works so well on a wall

Powder blue, soft red and warm tan on a soft ivory background: this print is a natural centrepiece for a nursery or a child's bedroom, and a classic gift for a baby shower, a christening or a first birthday. It pairs beautifully with the other scenes from our Beatrix Potter collection to create a gallery wall full of storybook charm.

• Artist: Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
• Work: Illustration for The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• Date: 1902 (Frederick Warne edition)
• Medium: Watercolour and pen and ink
• Characters: Mrs Rabbit, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-tail and Peter
• Design: Wallango edition, ivory background with museum-style caption

Discover all our Beatrix Potter prints.