Linda Lear noted that Potter began a new kind of animal fable in The Tale of Peter Rabbit . She had made one in which anthropomorphic animals look and act like real animals , with pictures that were drawn by a scientifically minded artist . Lear writes that Potter `` had in fact created a new form of animal fable in : one in which anthropomorphic animals behave as real animals with true animal instincts '' , and a form of fable with anatomically correct illustrations drawn by a scientifically minded artist .