Each two-page spread of the books contains a different brightly coloured picture of the subject with different attributes represented by a material.

The subject of the books include animals, vehicles, people (such as pirates and Santa), and fantasy creatures.

[3] According to the Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, the use of different textures encourages "independent exploration" of the book by the reader.

[4] She says that the success of the books is likely due to the combination of the "tactile and sensory experience" along with a comforting repetition in the text.

Watt said that the bold colour choice was intentional and she did not want to use "soft baby pinks and blues".

[3] The reader is invited to feel the texture and identify why the picture isn't the subject of the book, prompted by the text "That's not my".

"[10] With this setup, the reader is encouraged to work through the book until they find the right creature, person, or object.

Exceptions include That's Not My Bunny... (2005), ,[6] That's Not My Puppy... (1999) and That's Not My Bear... (2003), where the characters on the final pages are identified as male.

The That's Not My... series is written by Fiona Watt—who is also the editorial director of Usborne Publishing—and illustrated by Rachel Wells.

[6] In 2019, Usborne held celebration events for the 20th anniversary of That's Not My Puppy... in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust's Read On Nottingham campaign.

[16] In the summer of 2014, a That's Not My Meerkat...–themed bench was part of the Books about Town event organised by the National Literacy Trust and held in London.