Read-Aloud Peter Rabbit Stories
by Thornton W. Burgess, Elizabeth Monath (Illustrator)
Wonder Read Aloud Books (8), Chronological list of Thornton W. Burgess’s Works (1958)
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Read-Aloud Peter Rabbit Stories by Thornton W. Burgess is a Wonder Book paperback. The illustrations are by Elizabeth Monath instead of Harrison Cady, and there are many more of them. No, this is not Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit. This Peter is an American rabbit.
Peter Rabbit is very curious and much less sensible than his wife, Mrs. Peter, the former Little Miss Fuzzytail. He wants to know where his old friend, Bob White the bob-white and his wife have their current nest. His attempts to find it lead to disaster. Even that doesn't stop him from trying to find out where Rattles the Kingfisher and his wife have their current nest. At least Billy Mink demonstrates why one should not mess with the kingfishers and their long, sharp beaks. show more
Aside from being too curious, Peter has a problem with making assumptions, as shown in several chapters. (It doesn't matter how often Peter finds out he's wrong.)
Peter gets sick from eating pesticide-covered cabbage leaves in Farmer Brown's garden, which leads to him finding out how many friends he has.
At one point, Peter has to escape a hunter's smart dog. I had to smile at one of his tricks, because stepping in water to kill one's scent was shown to be false on the 'Mythbusters' TV show. (Can't fault Mr. Burgess for that, because these stories were written decades before that episode.)
Peter's friends are busy storing food for the coming winter during the autumn. Peter doesn't like being called a 'loafer' by all of them. How long do you think his plan to be industrious last?
The part of the book that takes place during the winter shows again how Peter isn't sensible. Yes, eating bark and twigs isn't very satisfying, but it's better than being killed. That doesn't stop Peter from going out. Some of his adventures are harmless, but he nearly gets killed once. A young animal experiencing his first winter is even more foolish than Peter.
There are more adventures in the spring. The book ends with a fight between Bully the Sparrow and Winsome Bluebird that makes a black cat quite happy.
As usual, these stories are charming little lessons that can be enjoyed by children and adults.
These are the characters that appear, even if only in a cameo: Billy Mink, Black Pussy, Blacky the Crow, Bob White & Mrs. Bob White, Bobby Coon, Brownie the Thrush, Bully the English Sparrow, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Danny Meadow Mouse, Drummer the Woodpecker, Farmer Brown's Boy, Flip the dog, Goldie the Oriole, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, Hooty the Great Horned Owl & Mrs. Hooty, Jenny Wren, Jerry Muskrat, Jimmy the Skunk, Johnny Chuck, Jumper the Hare, Little Friend the Song Sparrow, Little Joe Otter, Little Spots the Spotted Skunk, Lycosa the hunting spider, Mourning Cloak the Butterfly, Peter Rabbit & Mrs. Peter, Rattles the Kingfisher & Mrs. Rattles, Reddy Fox, Redwing the Blackbird, Sammy Jay, Short-Tail the Shrew, Sooty the Chimney Swift, Spring Peepers, Starnose the Mole, Striped Chipmunk, Teeter the Sandpiper, Tiny the Warbler, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, Unc' [Uncle] Billy Possum, Welcome Robin, and Winsome Bluebird. show less
Peter Rabbit is very curious and much less sensible than his wife, Mrs. Peter, the former Little Miss Fuzzytail. He wants to know where his old friend, Bob White the bob-white and his wife have their current nest. His attempts to find it lead to disaster. Even that doesn't stop him from trying to find out where Rattles the Kingfisher and his wife have their current nest. At least Billy Mink demonstrates why one should not mess with the kingfishers and their long, sharp beaks. show more
Aside from being too curious, Peter has a problem with making assumptions, as shown in several chapters. (It doesn't matter how often Peter finds out he's wrong.)
Peter gets sick from eating pesticide-covered cabbage leaves in Farmer Brown's garden, which leads to him finding out how many friends he has.
At one point, Peter has to escape a hunter's smart dog. I had to smile at one of his tricks, because stepping in water to kill one's scent was shown to be false on the 'Mythbusters' TV show. (Can't fault Mr. Burgess for that, because these stories were written decades before that episode.)
Peter's friends are busy storing food for the coming winter during the autumn. Peter doesn't like being called a 'loafer' by all of them. How long do you think his plan to be industrious last?
The part of the book that takes place during the winter shows again how Peter isn't sensible. Yes, eating bark and twigs isn't very satisfying, but it's better than being killed. That doesn't stop Peter from going out. Some of his adventures are harmless, but he nearly gets killed once. A young animal experiencing his first winter is even more foolish than Peter.
There are more adventures in the spring. The book ends with a fight between Bully the Sparrow and Winsome Bluebird that makes a black cat quite happy.
As usual, these stories are charming little lessons that can be enjoyed by children and adults.
These are the characters that appear, even if only in a cameo: Billy Mink, Black Pussy, Blacky the Crow, Bob White & Mrs. Bob White, Bobby Coon, Brownie the Thrush, Bully the English Sparrow, Chatterer the Red Squirrel, Danny Meadow Mouse, Drummer the Woodpecker, Farmer Brown's Boy, Flip the dog, Goldie the Oriole, Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel, Hooty the Great Horned Owl & Mrs. Hooty, Jenny Wren, Jerry Muskrat, Jimmy the Skunk, Johnny Chuck, Jumper the Hare, Little Friend the Song Sparrow, Little Joe Otter, Little Spots the Spotted Skunk, Lycosa the hunting spider, Mourning Cloak the Butterfly, Peter Rabbit & Mrs. Peter, Rattles the Kingfisher & Mrs. Rattles, Reddy Fox, Redwing the Blackbird, Sammy Jay, Short-Tail the Shrew, Sooty the Chimney Swift, Spring Peepers, Starnose the Mole, Striped Chipmunk, Teeter the Sandpiper, Tiny the Warbler, Tommy Tit the Chickadee, Unc' [Uncle] Billy Possum, Welcome Robin, and Winsome Bluebird. show less
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Thornton W. Burgess’s Works
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Thornton Waldo Burgess was born in Sandwich on January 14, 1874. Burgess graduated from Sandwich High School in 1891, and went on to attend a Business College in Boston from 1892-93. At the age of 17, Burgess briefly lived in Boston and then moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. He bought a place in Hampden, Massachusetts in 1925 and made it his show more permanent home in 1957. He published his first book, Old Mother West Wind, in 1910 Burgess was a naturalist and conservationist, and loved loved nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years. By the time he retired, he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for daily columns in newspapers. Burgess was also actively involved with conservation efforts. Some of his projects over his lifetime included: The Green Meadow Club for land conservation programs. The Bedtime Stories Club for wildlife protection programs, the Happy Jack Squirrel Saving Club for War Savings Stamps & Bonds, the Radio Nature League broadcast from WBZA Springfield, MA., as well as helping to pass laws protecting migrant wildlife. For his efforts, an Honorary Literary Degree was bestowed upon Burgess in 1938 from Northeastern University. The Boston Museum of Science awarded him a gold medal for "leading children down the path to the wide wonderful world of the outdoors." He was also awarded the distinguished Service Medal of the Permanent Wildlife Protection Fund. In 1960, Burgess published his last book, Now I Remember, an autobiography. That same year, Burgess at the age of 83, had published his 15,000th story. From 1912 to 1960, without interruption, Burgess wrote a syndicated daily newspaper column titled "Bedtime Stories". Thornton Burgess died June 5, 1965, at the age of 91. The Thornton W. Burgess Society was incorporated in 1976. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Read-Aloud Peter Rabbit Stories
- Original publication date
- 1958
- People/Characters
- Peter Rabbit (not the Beatrix Potter character); Bob White; Mrs. Peter Rabbit (né | e Little Miss Fuzzytail); Mrs. Bob White; Dog; Rattles the Kingfisher (show all 50); Mrs. Rattles the Kingfisher; Teeter the Sandpiper; Billy Mink; Sooty the Chimney Swift; Johnny Chuck; a hunter & smart dog; Blacky the Crow; Sammy Jay; Brownie the Thrush; Tommy Tit the Chickadee; Welcome Robin; Little Friend the Song Sparrow; Jenny Wren; Winsome Bluebird; Goldie the Oriole; Tiny the Warbler; Drummer the Woodpecker; Redwing the Blackbird; Jimmy the Skunk; Danny Meadow Mouse; Happy Jack the Gray Squirrel; Chatterer the Red Squirrel; Striped Chipmunk; Little Joe Otter; Jerry Muskrat; Reddy Fox; Jumper the Hare (cousin of the not-Beatrix-Potter's Peter Rabbit); young Wood Mouse; old Mouse; Hooty the Great Horned Owl; Starnose the Mole (Miner the Mole's cousin | Peter thinks he's Little Mr. Funny Face); Mourning Cloak the Butterfly; Mrs. Hooty the Great Horned Owl; Spring Peepers (tiny tree frogs, proper name Hyla); Unc' Billy Possum; Bobby Coon; Little Spots the Spotted Skunk (Jimmy Skunks' cousin); Short-Tail the Shrew (Blarina -- he's Teeny Weeny the Shrew's cousin); big Meadow Mouse; Lycosa (Madame Orb the Spider's hunting spider cousin); Bully the English Sparrow; Farmer Brown's boy; Flip the dog; Black Pussy
- Important places
- the dear Old Briar-patch; the Smiling Pool; the Big Rivers, across from the Green Meadows; the Laughing Brook; the Purple Hills; the Old Orchard (show all 13); Farmer Brown's Garden; the Green Meadows; the Green Forest; a little swamp at the head of the Smiling Pool, the Laughing Brook flows through it; the Crooked Little Path; Hooty the Great Horned Owl's favorite tree in the Green Forest; a big Meadow Mouse's home
- First words
- PETER RABBIT and Bob White have been neighbors and friends as long as either can remember.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Perhaps they realized how narrow had been their escape.
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