Big Book of Animal Stories

by Thornton W. Burgess

Mixing exciting adventure and good-natured humor with gentle homily, Thornton W. Burgess's timeless stories have drawn generations of youngsters into the comforting world of the Green Forest, the Smiling Pool, and the Laughing Brook. Along with generous helpings of warmth and whimsy, the entertaining stories also offer valuable lessons about wildlife, the environment, and being true to one's own nature.
In this collection of irresistible animal tales, children will read about Peter Cottontail, who is up to his floppy ears in dangerous escapades as he tries to outwit the ever-hungry Reddy Fox. Elsewhere in the Green Forest, Buster Bear has a series of run-ins with Little Joe Otter, Farmer Brown's boy, and even a stubborn metal pail. And Grandfather Frog, in his determination to see the Great World beyond the familiar vistas of the Smiling Pool, learns firsthand about all the pitfalls of greed, boastfulness, and downright stupidity. New Burgess fans will be charmed and delighted by these stories and other exciting tales about Jimmy Skunk, Billy Mink, and their animal friends.

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2001

About the author

Thornton W. (Waldo) Burgess (1874-1965), American author, naturalist and conservationist, wrote popular children's stories including the Old Mother West Wind (1910) series. He would go on to write more than 100 books and thousands of short-stories during his lifetime.

Thornton Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column, "Bedtime Stories". He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man. By the time he retired, he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for the daily newspaper column.

Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, Burgess was the son of Caroline F. Haywood and Thornton W. Burgess Sr., a direct descendant of Thomas Burgess, one of the first Sandwich settlers in 1637. Thornton W. Burgess, Sr., died the same year his son was born, and the young Thornton Burgess was brought up by his mother in Sandwich. They both lived in humble circumstances with relatives or paying rent. As a youth, he worked year round in order to earn money. Some of his jobs included tending cows, picking trailing arbutus or berries, shipping water lilies from local ponds, selling candy and trapping muskrats. William C. Chipman, one of his employers, lived on Discovery Hill Road, a wildlife habitat of woodland and wetland. This habitat became the setting of many stories in which Burgess refers to Smiling Pool and the Old Briar Patch.

Graduating from Sandwich High School in 1891, Burgess briefly attended a business college in Boston from 1892 to 1893, living in Somerville, Massachusetts, at that time. But he disliked studying business and wanted to write. He moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he took a job as an editorial assistant at the Phelps Publishing Company. His first stories were written under the pen name W. B. Thornton.

Burgess married Nina Osborne in 1905, but she died only a year later, leaving him to raise their son alone. It is said that he began writing bedtime stories to entertain his young son, Thornton III. Burgess remarried in 1911; his wife Fannie had two children by a previous marriage. The couple later bought a home in Hampden, Massachusetts, in 1925 that became Burgess' permanent residence in 1957. His second wife died in August 1950. Burgess returned frequently to Sandwich, which he always claimed as his birthplace and spiritual home.

In 1960, Burgess published his last book, "Now I Remember, Autobiography of an Amateur Naturalist," depicting memories of his early life in Sandwich, as well as his career highlights. That same year, Burgess, at the age of 86, had published his 15,000th story. He died on June 5, 1965, at the age of 91 in Hampden, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice collection of stories! We enjoyed this as a read aloud.

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caleb really enjoys this book. This is a great science read a loud for the littles. You may ask why the two star rating? I have a personal aversion to talking animal books. It's just a personal opinion. You may observe my low ratings of E.B. White books if you doubt. : )

[Ahmad Worthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because it has a abundance of stories that deals with animals. The stories use a lot of rhyming words and cool pictures. The child will like this story because it shows a sense of humor in the language in the text,