In 1906, as Potter was finishing "The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher", she considered developing books for a younger audience. Three stories were the result: "The Story of Miss Moppet", "The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit" and "The Sly Old Cat". Inspired by George Cruikshank's illustrations, she intended to have the stories published in "panoramic format in the style of Cruikshank's "Comic Alphabet"", as explained by Taylor. The panorama format consisted of "long strips of paper, on which the individual pages of pictures and text were arranged in order from left to right."