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Four Fur Feet
Describes an animal's journey around the world on his four fur feet
24 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
410 books1,316 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 5, 2024
(Charlip edition.) What a weird one! A creature with four fur feet wanders the world; with only those four feet in frame, the creature is kept a mystery and the bulk of the page is the world. Pleasantly cluttered, dense, stylized line art is flooded with flat plains of color. It's an invitation to exploration: what's the creature? where else can it go? look at all the things in the world! Presumably good for children; didn't do much for me, but I'm cool not being the intended audience and appreciate the combination of repetition and increasing scale.
September 18, 2017
Another classic title from Brown that has been reissued with more color and visual enticements, an ben clearer visual narrative to support the central concept... that the world is round. There is, as there always in a Margaret Wise Brown book, a deeper concept, too- that we are all one life, dependent on this round planet and on each other.
March 15, 2017
This is a good repetitive book for kids.
June 21, 2019
June 2019 - I can't remember why I picked this one up. The text is fun to read aloud, and would be good for a toddler (lots of repetition!) but the illustrations didn't do much for me.
October 25, 2022
Maybe children would like it -- their tastes are sometimes inexplicable -- but I hated the boring and confusing text and the boring and confusing illustrations too much to try this out on mine.
September 25, 2023
We received this book from the hospital when our baby was born. It's a quick cute little story.
November 4, 2025
I enjoyed this book!! It's a short and gentle story about a little animal walking and exploring the world. There are also a lot of rhymes throughout the story that make it very interesting.
November 6, 2025
Such a fun read aloud!
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April 16, 2009the illiteration and repetition in this unique book make it suitable for beginning readers. On every page there are Four fur feet. The feet travel around the pages. As the story progresses,readers turn the book as the feet get further around the book. I was impressed by the concept. The interactive, tactile quality is engaging.
August 19, 2008
Jenna and I always enjoy Margaret Wise Brown's books. This is a rhythmic story with some repetitive lines that Jenna (3) enjoyed "reading" along with me.
July 15, 2010
I think the preschooler likes this sing-song book because of the illustrations. They're pretty interesting if you happen to dabble in watercolors yourself.
December 19, 2016
Read at Drop-In Story Time on 5/10/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...
March 12, 2014
Around the world with four fur feet!
April 25, 2014
Cute primitivistic illustration with vibrant colors that meld well with the rhythmic poetry. I'm not a fan of the creature but I love the backgrounds and textures.
April 15, 2015
This book has colorful pictures, and the story has rhyme destine for the younger kids.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews