Beatrix Potter forged her own creative path to independence, fame, and financial success. Peter Rabbit, Hunca Munca, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddle-Duck--many readers are familiar with the animal characters created by British author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. But Beatrix was so much more than a painter of watercolor bunnies in little blue jackets or naive ducks waddling about in bonnets and shawls. She was a natural scientist, mycologist, environmentalist, conservationist, preservationist, farmer, and expert sheep breeder. Beatrix was a woman ahead of her time, making her own decisions and handling her own business affairs, despite living in a Victorian society that was unaccustomed to unmarried women doing so. Becoming Beatrix: The Life of Beatrix Potter and the World of Peter Rabbit covers Potter's early life and influences, artistic work, fascination with animals and the natural sciences, and interest and research with fungi, as well as her writing and illustration journey and her later years as a wife, farmer, businesswoman, environmentalist, and conservationist. This book tells the story of Beatrix beyond the bunnies.