The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Written and illustrated by British author Beatrix Potter, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) was written for five-year-old Noel Moore, the son of Potter’s ex-governess Annie Carter Moore, in 1893. The book would go on to become one of the all-time bestsellers, selling 45 million copies and translated into thirty-six languages. The story follows the young and unruly Peter Rabbit as he is hounded through the vegetable garden of Mr. McGregor. After a series of misadventures, Peter returns home where his mother gives him tea and puts him to bed. Following the introduction of a Peter Rabbit doll by Potter in 1903, a line of merchandising based on the book has continued to keep it popular for more than a century. The book has been adapted several times on screen, most recently the 2018 live-action film produced by Columbia Pictures, directed by Will Gluck, and starring James Corden as Peter Rabbit.

The story is narrated in the omniscient third-person perspective. Four rabbits, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, and Peter live with their mother on a sandbank below a tall fir tree. One day, Old Misses Rabbit tells her children they may run in the fields or play down the lane, but under no circumstances can they enter Mr. McGregor’s garden. The rabbits’ father was caught in the garden and ended up in Mrs. McGregor’s pie. Misses Rabbit tells them not to get into mischief as she heads off to the bakery to buy a loaf of brown bread and five currant-buns. The obedient Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail obey orders and travel down the lane to pick blackberries. Peter, a naughty rabbit, disobeys his mother’s orders and runs straight for Mr. McGregor’s garden. He squeezes under the gate and eats lettuces, French beans, and radishes. Feeling ill from eating too much, Peter seeks parsley to calm his stomach.

As Peter rounds a cucumber frame, he meets Mr. McGregor, who stops planting baby cabbages to chase after Peter with a rake. Terrified, Peter races through the garden but has forgotten where the gate is. Peter loses one shoe in the cabbage patch, and the other in the potato field. He escapes McGregor, running faster with all four legs. However, Peter’s jacket button gets caught on a gooseberry net. Declaring himself lost, Peter cries. Hearing Peter’s sobs, three friendly sparrows exert him to get free. Just as McGregor attempts to place a sieve over Peter’s head, Peter wriggles out of the net and escapes, leaving his jacket behind. He rushes into a toolshed and hides inside a water canister. Unfortunately, there is too much water in the can. Certain Peter is hiding in the shed, McGregor begins turning over flowerpots in search of the rabbit. Peter sneezes and McGregor begins chasing him again. When McGregor tries to place his foot on Peter, Peter dashes through a window, knocking over three plants. Tired and unable to fit through the window, McGregor goes back to work.



Peter rests. Breathless, terrified, and damp, he is unsure which direction he must go to return home. After awhile, he wanders about. He finds a door in the wall, but it’s locked, and he is too fat to squeeze underneath the door. An old rat crosses over the stone doorstep carrying peas and beans to her family resting in the wood. Peter asks the rat the directions to the gate, but the rat has such a large pea in her mouth that she cannot answer. The rat shakes her head at Peter and Peter begins to cry again. He makes his way across the garden but becomes increasingly confused. Peter arrives at a small pond where McGregor fills his watering cans. He sees a white cat staring at some goldfish swimming in the pond. The cat sits very still, but every once in awhile her tail twitches. Peter leaves the cat alone, departing without speaking to her, as he has heard about cats from his cousin, Benjamin Bunny.

Heading back toward the tool-shed, Peter hears the sound of a hoe tilling ground. He scurries under the bushes and waits there for a time. Before long, he climbs into a wheelbarrow and sees McGregor in the field hoeing onions. McGregor’s back is turned to Peter, and just beyond McGregor is the garden gate. Peter slowly and quietly climbs down from the wheelbarrow and runs as fast as he can. McGregor catches sight of Peter. Peter does not care, however, and slips underneath the gate to safety. McGregor uses Peter’s lost jacket and shoes to make a scarecrow to frighten away the birds eating his crops.

Running home as fast as he can, Peter doesn’t stop until he reaches the tall fir tree. Exhausted, Peter flops down on the soft sand on the floor of the rabbit hole and closes his eyes. Misses Rabbit, busy cooking, wonders what Peter has done with his clothes. This is the second pair of clothes he has lost in the past two weeks. Peter falls ill during the evening. Misses Rabbit puts Peter to bed, making him some chamomile tea. She gives Peter a tablespoon of tea at bedtime. Meanwhile, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail enjoy bread, milk, and blackberries for dinner.