Beatrix Potter loved the countryside and she spent much of her otherwise conventional Victorian childhood drawing and studying animals. Her passion for the natural world lay behind the creation of her famous series of little books. A particular source of inspiration was the English Lake District where she lived for the last thirty years of her life as a farmer and land conservationist, working with the National Trust. By 1911, when Beatrix Potter was preparing "The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes" for publication, her books were already well known in America. The new story aimed to appeal directly to her many American fans and featured animals of American origin, grey squirrels, chipmunks and a black bear, all living happily in the Lake District woods.