<P> The Tale of Peter Rabbit is a British children's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter that follows mischievous and disobedient young Peter Rabbit as he is chased about the garden of Mr. McGregor . He escapes and returns home to his mother, who puts him to bed after dosing him with tea . The tale was written for five - year - old Noel Moore, son of Potter's former governess Annie Carter Moore, in 1893 . It was revised and privately printed by Potter in 1901 after several publishers' rejections, but was printed in a trade edition by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1902 . The book was a success, and multiple reprints were issued in the years immediately following its debut . It has been translated into 36 languages, and with 45 million copies sold it is one of the best - selling books of all time . </P> <P> Since its release the book has generated considerable merchandise for both children and adults, including toys, dishes, foods, clothing, and videos . Potter was one of the first to be responsible for such merchandise when she patented a Peter Rabbit doll in 1903 and followed it almost immediately with a Peter Rabbit board game . </P> <P> The story focuses on a family of anthropomorphic rabbits . The widowed mother rabbit cautions her young against entering the vegetable garden of a man named Mr. McGregor, telling them: "your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor". Her three daughters obediently refrain from entering the garden, going down the lane to pick blackberries, but her rebellious son Peter enters the garden to snack on some vegetables . Peter ends up eating more than is good for him and goes looking for parsley to cure his stomach ache . Peter is spotted by Mr. McGregor and loses his jacket and shoes while trying to escape . He hides in a watering can in a shed, but then has to run away again when Mr. McGregor finds him, and ends up completely lost . After sneaking past a cat, Peter sees the gate where he entered the garden from a distance and heads for it, despite being spotted and chased by Mr. McGregor again . With difficulty he wriggles under the gate, and escapes from the garden, but he spots his abandoned clothing being used to dress Mr. McGregor's scarecrow . After returning home, a sick Peter is sent to bed by his mother, while his well - behaved sisters receive a sumptuous dinner of milk and berries as opposed to Peter's supper of chamomile tea . </P> <P> The story was inspired by a pet rabbit Potter had as a child, which she named Peter Piper . Through the 1890s, Potter sent illustrated story letters to the children of her former governess, Annie Moore . In 1900, Moore, realizing the commercial potential of Potter's stories, suggested they be made into books . Potter embraced the suggestion, and, borrowing her complete correspondence (which had been carefully preserved by the Moore children), selected a letter written on 4 September 1893 to five - year - old Noel that featured a tale about a rabbit named Peter . Potter biographer Linda Lear explains: "The original letter was too short to make a proper book so (Potter) added some text and made new black - and - white illustrations...and made it more suspenseful . These changes slowed the narrative down, added intrigue, and gave a greater sense of the passage of time . Then she copied it out into a stiff - covered exercise book, and painted a coloured frontispiece showing Mrs Rabbit dosing Peter with camomile tea". </P>

Who put peter rabbit's father in a pie