The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse facts for kids
First edition cover
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| Author | Beatrix Potter |
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| Illustrator | Beatrix Potter |
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Frederick Warne & Co. |
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Publication date
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July 1910 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Preceded by | The Tale of Ginger and Pickles |
| Followed by | The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes |
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse is a popular children's book. It was written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. The book was first published in 1910 by Frederick Warne & Co. This story is about a very tidy mouse and her struggles. She tries to keep her home clean from messy insects.
Beatrix Potter loved things to be neat and disliked bugs. This feeling is shown through Mrs. Tittlemouse. The character of Mrs. Thomasina Tittlemouse first appeared in 1909. She had a small but important part in The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies. Because she was so liked, Potter decided to give her a whole book. The book's detailed drawings of insects are very special. They might have been drawn just for fun. Or, they might have been made to surprise young readers. The first 25,000 copies came out in July 1910. Another 15,000 were printed by November 1911. The book was printed in Potter's usual small size.
Mrs. Tittlemouse is a woodmouse. She lives in a "funny house" under a hedge. Her home has many long passages and storage rooms. She works hard to keep her house tidy. But, insects and spiders keep making messes. A lost beetle leaves dirty footprints. A spider looking for Little Miss Muffet leaves cobwebs. Her neighbor, Mr. Jackson the toad, visits. He makes a mess looking for honey. Mrs. Tittlemouse wonders if her home will ever be clean. After a good sleep, she cleans her house for two weeks. She polishes her tiny spoons. Then, she throws a party for her friends.
After Mrs. Tittlemouse was published, Beatrix Potter's life became busy. She had to care for her aging parents. She also started running a farm. Because of this, she wrote and drew less. She still published books sometimes. But many ideas came from old drawings. Mrs. Tittlemouse was her last book published twice a year. Experts love the book's drawings of insects. One critic said the story has a "nightmarish quality." This is because Mrs. Tittlemouse fights bugs all the time. Characters from the book became porcelain figures. Beswick Pottery started making them in 1948. Mrs. Tittlemouse was also on a Huntley & Palmers biscuit tin in 1955. Other toys and items were made too. Mrs. Tittlemouse was in a 1971 ballet film. Her story was also made into a cartoon TV show in 1992.
Contents
What Happens in the Story
Mrs. Tittlemouse is a story without any humans. It feels like the events have always happened. And no humans are around to see them. It is a simple story that young children enjoy.
Mrs. Tittlemouse is a very tidy little mouse. She is "always sweeping and dusting." Her home is under a hedge. It has "yards and yards" of passages. There are also nut-cellars and seed-cellars. She has a kitchen, a parlor, a pantry, a larder, and a bedroom. Her dust-pan and brush are next to her tiny bed. She tries to keep her house clean. But, insects keep coming in. They leave dirty footprints and make messes.
She shoos away a beetle. She tells a ladybird to "Fly away home! Your house is on fire!" A spider asks about Little Miss Muffet. Mrs. Tittlemouse quickly turns it away. In a far passage, she meets Babbitty Bumble. This bumblebee lives in a storage room. Three or four other bees are with her. Mrs. Tittlemouse tries to pull out their nest. But the bees buzz loudly at her. She decides to deal with them later.
In her parlor, she finds her neighbor Mr. Jackson. He is a toad. He sits by the fire in her rocking chair. Mr. Jackson lives in a "dirty wet ditch." His coat is dripping with water. He leaves wet footprints on her floor. Mrs. Tittlemouse follows him with a mop.
Mrs. Tittlemouse lets Mr. Jackson stay for dinner. But he does not like the food. He searches the cupboard for honey. He can smell it! He finds a butterfly in the sugar bowl. Then he finds the bees. He makes a big mess pulling out their nest. Mrs. Tittlemouse feels like she will "go distracted." She hides in the nut-cellar. When she comes out, everyone is gone. But her house is a huge mess. She uses moss, beeswax, and twigs. She partly closes her front door. This is to keep Mr. Jackson out. She is very tired. She goes to bed. She wonders if her house will ever be clean again.
The tidy little mouse spends two weeks cleaning. She rubs her furniture with beeswax. She polishes her tiny tin spoons. Then, she has a party. Five other little wood-mice come. They wear their fancy Regency clothes. Mr. Jackson comes too. But he has to sit outside. Mrs. Tittlemouse made her door too narrow. He does not mind being outside. Acorn-cupfuls of honeydew are passed to him. He toasts Mrs. Tittlemouse's good health.
About Beatrix Potter
Helen Beatrix Potter was born on July 28, 1866. She was born in London, England. Her father, Rupert William Potter, was a barrister. Her mother was Helen Leech Potter. Beatrix was taught at home by governesses. She had a quiet childhood. She loved to read, paint, and draw. She kept many small animals as pets. She also visited museums and art shows. She loved nature and country life. She spent holidays in Scotland and the English Lake District. She also visited Camfield Place in Hertfordshire. This was her grandparents' home.
Beatrix's teenage years were also quiet. Her parents wanted her to stay home. They wanted her to be a housekeeper. But she wanted to live her own useful life. She thought about studying mycology (fungi). But the science world was mostly men. They saw her as an amateur. So she stopped studying fungi. She kept painting and drawing. In 1890, she had her first art success. She sold six animal designs to a greeting card company.
In 1900, Potter rewrote a story. It was about a rabbit named Peter. She had written it for a child in 1893. She made a sample book of it. It was like The Story of Little Black Sambo. She could not find a publisher at first. So she printed the book herself in 1901. She gave copies to family and friends. Frederick Warne & Co. had said no to the story before. But they wanted to sell small children's books. So they changed their minds. Their artist, L. Leslie Brooke, suggested they publish it. Potter agreed to color her drawings. She used a new printing method. On October 2, 1902, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was released.
Potter kept publishing children's books with Warnes. She used money from her book sales. She also got money from an aunt. In July 1905, she bought Hill Top. It was a farm in the Lake District. On August 25, her fiancé and editor, Norman Warne, died suddenly. She was very sad and sick for weeks. But she got better. She finished the last stories she had planned with him.
The Book's Pictures
Mrs. Tittlemouse shows how well Potter observed nature. She drew insects, spiders, and toads. Her drawings show her knowledge. She understood how insects looked and acted. For example, she knew toads only seek water to lay eggs. She also knew they could smell honey. The spider and butterfly drawings are very detailed. They look like her studies from the 1890s.
Potter used her older drawings for the book. These were drawings she made as a young adult. She drew them from nature. Or she drew them from specimens. She saw them at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The book's pictures are interesting. This is because the insects are so accurate. Not because Mrs. Tittlemouse or Mr. Jackson act like humans. Potter was sometimes a bit careless with the insects. They seem drawn just for themselves. Or they look out of scale with the mouse. The ladybird looks bigger than Mrs. Tittlemouse. The spider looks bigger in one picture. Then it looks smaller in another. The bees are sometimes too big for the toad and the mouse.
Potter was both a nature artist and a fantasy artist. In this book, they seem to clash. The mouse, toad, and insects live in the same place. But the mouse and toad act like humans. The insects do not. They stay natural. It would make sense for the insects to act human too. Maybe Potter was less careful. She might have wanted to show her drawing skills. Or she might have been more interested in farming. She was also getting involved in local life in Sawrey.
Book Merchandise
Potter believed her stories would become classics. Part of this was her marketing plan. She was the first to use her characters for products. She made a Peter Rabbit doll. She also made a Peter Rabbit board game. And Peter Rabbit wallpaper. This was between 1903 and 1905. She called these extra products "side-shows." More items were made over the next 20 years.
In 1947, Frederick Warne & Co. gave rights to the John Beswick Factory. This factory was in Longton, Staffordshire. They could make Potter characters in porcelain. Mrs. Tittlemouse was one of the first ten figures. She was made in 1948. Mr. Jackson followed in 1974. Mother Lady Bird and Babbitty Bumble were made in 1989. Another Mrs. Tittlemouse figure came out in 2000. An embossed plate with Mrs. Tittlemouse was made from 1982 to 1984.
Mrs. Tittlemouse was on a Huntley & Palmers biscuit tin in 1955. In 1973, The Eden Toy Company got rights. They were the only American company. They could make stuffed Beatrix Potter characters. Mrs. Tittlemouse was released as a plush toy in 1975. In 1975, Crummles of Poole, Dorset started making Beatrix Potter enamel boxes. They made a 32 millimetres (1.3 in) box. It showed Babbitty Bumble and Mrs. Tittlemouse. She was holding her book.
In 1977, Schmid & Co. got licensing rights. They were from Toronto and Randolph, Massachusetts. They made a Mrs. Tittlemouse music box. It played "It's a Small World" that same year. A flat ceramic Mr. Jackson Christmas ornament followed in 1984. A hanging ornament of Mrs. Tittlemouse in her bed came out in 1987.
Reprints and Other Languages
As of 2010, all 23 of Potter's small books are still printed. You can buy them in sets. A big 400-page book is also available. First editions and old copies can be found. Copies of the original Mrs. Tittlemouse manuscript are also available.
The English versions of Potter's books still say Frederick Warne. This is true even though Penguin Books bought the company in 1983. In 1985, Penguin made new printing plates. They used new photos of the original drawings. In 1987, they released all the books. They called them The Original and Authorized Edition.
Potter's books have been translated into almost 30 languages. These include Greek and Russian. The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse was translated into Afrikaans in 1930. It was called Die Verhaal van Mevrou Piekfyn. In 1970, it was translated into Dutch. It was called Het Verhaal die Minetje Miezemuis. In the 1970s, Fukuinkan-Shoten of Tokyo released the story in Japanese. They also released 11 other stories. In 1986, MacDonald noted that Potter's books were a classic part of childhood. This was true in English-speaking countries. It was also true where the books were translated.
