 The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse is a children 's book written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter , and published by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1910 . The tale is about housekeeping and insect pests in the home , and reflects Potter 's own sense of tidiness and her abhorrence of insect infestations . The character of Mrs. Tittlemouse debuted in 1909 in a small but crucial role in The Tale of The Flopsy Bunnies , and Potter decided to give her a tale of her own the following year . Her meticulous illustrations of the insects may have been drawn for their own sake , or to provoke horror and disgust in her juvenile readers . 25 @,@ 000 copies of the tale were initially released in July 1910 and another 15 @,@ 000 between November 1910 and November 1911 in Potter 's typical small book format . 
