Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965)

First sentence: The Imp of Mischief, woe is me, is always busy as a bee. That is why so many people are forever getting into trouble. He won't keep still. No, Sir, he won't keep still unless he is made to. Once let him get started there is no knowing where he will stop. Peter Rabbit had just seen Jimmy Skunk disappear inside an old barrel, lying on its side at the top of the hill, and at once the Imp of Mischief began2 to whisper to Peter. Of course Peter shouldn't have listened. Certainly show more not. But he did. You know Peter dearly loves a joke when it is on some one else. He sat right where he was and watched to see if Jimmy would come out of the barrel. Jimmy didn't come out, and after a little Peter stole over to the barrel and peeped inside. There was Jimmy Skunk curled up for a nap. Peter tiptoed away very softly. All the time the Imp of Mischief was whispering to him that this was a splendid chance to play a joke on Jimmy. You know it is very easy to play a joke on any one who is asleep. Peter doesn't often have a chance to play a joke on Jimmy Skunk. It isn't a very safe thing to do, not if Jimmy is awake. No one knows that better than Peter.

Premise/plot: Though Jimmy Skunk is perhaps the central character in this classic animal fantasy novel by Thornton Burgess, plenty of other characters get their moments to shine as well. (INCLUDING UNC' Billy Possum). Over half the novel features JIMMY SKUNK and UNC' BILLY POSSUM together getting into trouble--chiefly having to do with their love for EGGS. (The first half of the novel focuses on Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk pranking each other.)

Burgess' animal world is DELIGHTFUL.

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. Did I love it more than The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum???? Good question. Fair question. I think I loved them both equally. Because they share main characters--Jimmy Skunk and Unc' Billy Possum.

Quotes:

Jimmy Skunk ambled along down the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest. He didn't hurry. Jimmy never does hurry. Hurrying and worrying are two things he leaves for his neighbors. Now and then Jimmy stopped to turn over a bit of bark or a stick, hoping to find some fat beetles. But it was plain to see that he had something besides fat beetles on his mind.
Up the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest shuffled Unc' Billy Possum. He didn't hurry. It was too warm to hurry. Unlike Jimmy Skunk,62 he does hurry sometimes, does Unc' Billy, especially when he suspects that Bowser the Hound is about. And sometimes Unc' Billy does worry. You see, there are people who think that Unc' Billy would make a very good dinner. Unc' Billy doesn't think he would. Anyway, he has no desire to have the experiment tried. So occasionally, when he discovers one of these people who think he would make a good dinner, he worries a little.
But just now Unc' Billy was neither hurrying nor worrying. There was no need of doing either, and Unc' Billy never does anything that there is no need of doing. So Unc' Billy shuffled up the Lone Little Path, and Jimmy Skunk ambled down the Lone Little Path, and right at a bend in the Lone Little Path they met. show less

More than any other Burgess book I've read, this one is about relationships. Old Granny Fox and the young Reddy are having a tough time finding food in the winter. Reddy Fox is quite the know-it-all and even mocks the older fox when he doesn't understand what she's doing but Granny is remarkably patient and shows him that he still has a lot to learn. Reddy despairs that they can't find any food in the snow. Granny shows him how to perform for ducks and take the farm dog's dinner, but when show more they've exhausted every other means of getting food they resort to stealing hens. She makes quite a point out of the fact that the foxes only take the hens because they're starving so that's okay even though it's stealing; the humans have plenty of food so they can spare a few chickens. The raid on the chicken coop is a big event in the book; even here Reddy is overeager and Granny Fox must teach him to be patient, to wait until it's perfectly safe, to stay away afterwards so they have a chance to get hens again at a later date. However most of the story seemed to be about lessons on respecting your elders and having a willingness to learn. It even seems that things have finally sunk in for Reddy Fox; at one point he finds a fish to eat and even though he's starving he thinks of Granny Fox waiting at home, unable to hunt for herself and he takes the food back to her. It was a wonderful change of heart for him, this feisty little fox who usually only thinks of himself.

from the Dogear Diary show less

Mother West Wind 'Why' Stories is the fifth book in Thornton W. Burgess' series of Mother West Wind stories. The sixteen stories follow a formula: some character, usually Peter Rabbit (not Beatrix Potter's character), starts wondering about a characteristic of another character and asks wise old Grandfather Frog about it. Grandfather Frog tells the story, usually referring to the animal's ancestor as the 'grandfather a thousand times removed' or 'great-great-ever-so-great grandfather'. One show more story is told by Ol' [Old] Mistah [Mister] Buzzard.

The characteristics are either a reward or a punishment from Old Mother Nature. Grandfather Frog will give a moral about the story. The listener or listeners might also comment.

The stories are:

'Why Striped Chipmunk is Proud of His Stripes'
'Why Peter Rabbit Cannot Fold His Hands'
'Why Unc' Billy Possum Plays Dead'
'Why Reddy Fox Wears Red'
'Why Jimmy Skunk Never Hurries'
'Why Sammy Jay Has a Fine Coat'
'Why Jerry Muskrat Builds His House on Water'
'Why Old Man Coyote Has Many Voices'
'Why Miner the Mole Lives Under Ground'
'Why Mr. Snake Cannot Wink'
'Why Bobby Coon has rings on His Tail'
'Why There is a Black Head in the Buzzard Family'
'Why Buster Bear Appears to Have No Tail'
'Why Flitter the Bat Flies at Night'
'Why Spotty the Turtle Carries His House With Him'
'Why Paddy the Beaver Has a Broad Tail'

Almost all of the stories are charming and fun. I like it when Grandfather Frog invites his listener to use his head. Sadly, Ol' Mistah Buzzard's story is racist, but that can be avoided if the adult reading aloud ignores a couple of insulting adjectives. The copyright for these stories is 1915, but children today should enjoy them. show less

When I was young I remember my mother reading Thornton Burgess stories to my sister and I. When I saw that Old Mother West Wind by this author was published in 1910, I decided to re-visit it for this month’s Decade Cat. This is a collection of stories about the creatures that live in the Green Meadow, the Smiling Pond and the Big Woods. Old Mother West Wind comes by every morning and leaves her children, the 9 Merry Little Breezes in the meadow to play.

Although a little dated, these show more stories are meant to teach children some life lessons. I vaguely remember listening to stories about Grandfather Frog, Reddy Fox and Jerry Muskrat and being taught not to be too vain, not to steal and not to be mean to others. The stories are gentle and appealing but unless the child is really into nature, they may be little too tame for today’s children.

The author originally wrote these stories for his son and went on to write a small book for each animal. I remember being charmed by the Paddy the Beaver book and many others with their message of using one’s imagination and living in harmony with nature. Old Mother West Wind was a lovely trip down memory lane for me. show less