Beatrix Potter was one of the inventors of the contemporary picture book, and her small novels published at the turn of the twentieth century are still available and popular today. Writing in Code is the first book-length study of Potter’s work, and it covers the entire oeuvre. Daphne Kutzer reveals the depth of the symbolism in the stories and relates this to the issues of the author’s own development as an independent woman and writer. Perfectly weaving the subtle themes inscribed in Potter’s own stories with the concerns and temperament of the author who wrote them, Daphne Kutzer exemplifies literary criticism as it can illuminate the breadth of allusion in children’s literature.