The story began as tales that Richard Adams told his young daughters Juliet and Rosamund during long car journeys. As he explained in 2007, he "began telling the story of the rabbits... improvised off the top of head, as [they were driving along", but it is possible he may have been inspired by Walter de la Mare's poem "", as Adams quotes a line from it before the dedication. The daughters insisted he write it down—"they were very, very persistent". After some delay he began writing in the evenings and completed it 18 months later. The book is dedicated to the two girls.