The Tale of Tom Kitten illustrated Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Tom Kitten is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them Potter began work on Tom Kitten in the summer of 1906 and used the gardens and interior of the farmhouse at Hill Top as the setting for the tale. Potter began work on Tom Kitten in the summer of 1906, and used the gardens and interior of the farmhouse at Hill Top as the setting for the tale. Some of the pictures of the ducks were made in London. As models, she used ducks belonging to a distant cousin who lived at Putney Park.