The company refused Rawnsley 's version , but they wanted to see Potter 's complete manuscript . They hoped that The Tale of Peter Rabbit would be as successful as Helen Bannerman 's greatly popular Little Black Sambo and other children 's books that were being sold at that time .
Warne editors declined Rawnsley 's version `` but asked to see the complete Potter manuscript '' â `` their interest stimulated by the opportunity The Tale of Peter Rabbit offered the publisher to compete with the success of Helen Bannerman 's wildly popular Little Black Sambo and other small format children 's books then on the market .