Peter Newell became popular  in the 1880s  for his humorous drawings. Later, he also wrote and illustrated unusual children’s books (and poems), such as Topsys and Turvys (1893), which could be read upside-down, or the rhomboid shaped  Slant Book (1910).

He created the second illustrated version of Alice after Tenniel (the first was authored by Blanche McManus in 1899). Newell’s Alice was published by Harper & Brothers in October 1901.