Lost hankies, a door in a hill, and a very small washerwoman! A story by Beatrix Potter, from her 1905 picture book.
🧺 The story in brief
Lucie has lost her hankies and her pinny. She climbs a big hill to look for them, and finds a tiny door.
Inside lives Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, who washes clothes for all the animals. But who is she, really? Look closely at her cap!
📖 The story, part by part
Tap “Read it to me” to listen, or read each part with a grown-up. The green boxes show Beatrix Potter's own words, and the yellow box holds Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's washing song.
Part 1
Lucie loses her hankies
Once upon a time, a little girl called Lucie lived on a farm called Little-town.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “She was a good little girl—only she was always losing her pocket-handkerchiefs!”
One day Lucie came into the farm-yard, crying. A pocket-handkerchief is a hanky, and a pinny is an apron. She called them “handkins” for short.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “I've lost my pocket-handkin! Three handkins and a pinny!”
Part 2
Have you seen them?
Lucie asked Tabby Kitten. But the kitten just went on washing her white paws.
Then Lucie asked a speckled hen, Sally Henny-penny. The hen ran into a barn, clucking:
Beatrix Potter wrote: “I go barefoot, barefoot, barefoot!”
Lucie asked Cock Robin, too. He looked at her with his bright black eye, and flew away over a stile. A stile is a set of steps for climbing over a fence.
Part 3
Up, up the hill
Lucie climbed up on the stile. Behind the farm was a hill,
Beatrix Potter wrote: “a hill that goes up—up—into the clouds as though it had no top!”
Far up the hill, she thought she saw some white things spread on the grass. Could they be her hankies? Lucie scrambled up the steep path, up and up, until the farm looked tiny far below.
Part 4
Tiny foot-marks
Lucie came to a spring, where water bubbles out of the ground. Someone had put a tin can there to catch the water. But the can was no bigger than an egg-cup!
In the wet sand on the path, there were foot-marks of a very small person. Who could it be? Lucie ran on, and on.
Part 5
A door in the hill
The path ended under a big rock. There were tiny clothes-lines and a heap of tiny clothes pins. And there was a door, right into the hill! Inside, someone was singing:
The song: “Lily-white and clean, oh! With little frills between, oh! Smooth and hot—red rusty spot Never here be seen, oh!”
Lucie knocked on the door. A little frightened voice called out, “Who's that?”
Part 6
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle
Lucie opened the door. Inside the hill was a clean little kitchen. The ceiling was so low that Lucie's head nearly touched it!
At the table stood a very short, round person with an iron in her hand. She wore a print gown, a big apron and a cap. Her little black nose went sniffle, sniffle, snuffle. And under her cap,
Beatrix Potter wrote: “where Lucie had yellow curls—that little person had PRICKLES!”
Her name was Mrs. Tiggy-winkle. She was a washerwoman. That is someone whose job is washing and ironing clothes.
She made a little bob-curtsey and said:
Beatrix Potter wrote: “I'm an excellent clear-starcher!”
That means she was very good at washing clothes and making them crisp and smooth.
Part 7
Whose clothes are these?
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was washing clothes for all the animals and birds. Lucie kept asking, “What's that?”
Beatrix Potter wrote: “that's a little scarlet waist-coat belonging to Cock Robin!”
There were Sally Henny-penny's yellow stockings, and Tabby Kitten's mittens. There was a red tail-coat for Squirrel Nutkin, and a little blue jacket for Peter Rabbit. And there were Lucie's three hankies and her pinny, too! Mrs. Tiggy-winkle washed and ironed them all.
Part 8
A cup of tea
Beatrix Potter wrote: “Then Mrs. Tiggy-winkle made tea—a cup for herself and a cup for Lucie.”
They sat by the fire. Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's hand was very brown and wrinkly from the soap-suds. Pins stuck out all over her gown and cap, so Lucie did not sit too close!
Then they tied up the clean clothes in bundles. Lucie's hankies were folded inside her clean pinny, with a silver safety-pin.
Part 9
Down the hill
Lucie and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle trotted down the hill with the bundles. Little animals came out of the ferns to meet them, and
Beatrix Potter wrote: “the very first that they met were Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny!”
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle gave everyone their nice clean clothes. By the bottom of the hill, only Lucie's little bundle was left.
Part 10
A very odd thing
Lucie climbed up the stile. She turned around to say “Good-night” and “thank you.” But Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was running up the hill! Where were her cap, her shawl and her gown? She had grown so small, and so brown, and so prickly.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “Why! Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was nothing but a HEDGEHOG.”
Some people say Lucie fell asleep on the stile and dreamed it all. But then, how did she get her clean hankies and pinny back? And Beatrix Potter says
Beatrix Potter wrote: “I have seen that door into the back of the hill called Cat Bells”.
The End.
💛 Kind and hard-working
Helping others is a fine job. Mrs. Tiggy-winkle worked hard to wash everyone's clothes, and she did not even wait to be thanked. Lucie said thank you, and she got her things back clean. Who helps you every day? How can you say thank you?
🦔 Meet the characters
Lucie
A little girl from a farm called Little-town. She is always losing her hankies.
Mrs. Tiggy-winkle
A very small washerwoman with a frilled cap, a big apron and lots of prickles. She is a hedgehog!
Tabby Kitten
A kitten on Lucie's farm. She washes her own mittens.
Sally Henny-penny
A speckled hen. She scratches so much that her stockings wear out.
🧺 Whose clothes are these?
Help Mrs. Tiggy-winkle give back the clean washing! Tap the animal who owns each thing.
For grown-ups: every owner here is named in Beatrix Potter's story. Tap 🔈 to hear each one.
1. A little scarlet (red) waistcoat
2. Yellow stockings with the heels worn out
3. A very small blue jacket
4. Funny little white mittens
5. A red hanky that smelled of onions
6. A red tail-coat with no tail
Score: 0 of 6
🔤 New words
Tap 🔈 to hear a word and what it means.
pinny
A short word for a pinafore: an apron that covers the front of a dress.
washerwoman
A woman whose job is washing and ironing other people's clothes.
stile
Steps or a ladder for climbing over a fence or wall.
spring
A place where water comes bubbling up out of the ground.
iron
A heavy, hot tool that you press on clothes to make them smooth and flat.
hedgehog
A small brown animal covered in sharp prickles. It sniffs about for bugs to eat.
🦔 The prickly quiz
How much do you remember? Tap the right answer for each question.
For grown-ups: each question has a 🔈 button so pre-readers can hear it. Works with a keyboard too (Tab to move, Enter to choose).
1. What did Lucie keep losing?
2. Where was Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's door?
3. What was Mrs. Tiggy-winkle's job?
4. Whose blue jacket did she wash?
5. What did Lucie and Mrs. Tiggy-winkle do after the ironing?
6. What was Mrs. Tiggy-winkle, really?
Score: 0 of 6
💬 Let's talk about it
There are no wrong answers. Talk with a grown-up or a friend.
What clues did Lucie see before she found out Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was a hedgehog?
Do you think Lucie had a dream? Why or why not?
Have you ever lost something? How did you find it?
Who washes the clothes at your house? How could you help?
Why do you think Mrs. Tiggy-winkle ran away without saying goodbye?
Yes! Lucie Carr was a little girl Beatrix Potter knew. Her father was the vicar, a church minister, in the Newlands valley. The book says it is “for the real little Lucie of Newlands.”
Was there a real Mrs. Tiggy-winkle?
Yes, two of them! Beatrix Potter had a pet hedgehog named Mrs. Tiggy-winkle. She also remembered Kitty MacDonald, a small, cheerful Scottish washerwoman who once washed clothes for her family.
Are the places real?
Yes. Little Town is a tiny village in the Newlands valley, in the Lake District of England. Cat Bells is a real hill nearby. Beatrix Potter drew these places in her sketchbook.
Who else visits the story?
Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and Squirrel Nutkin from her other books! Can you find them in the story?
Who drew the pictures?
Beatrix Potter wrote the words and painted the pictures herself. The pictures on this page are new ones, drawn for Jugami.