Green Meadow Stories by Thornton W. Burgess (good short books .txt) đ
Description
Thornton W. Burgess was an American naturalist and the author of dozens of books for children, the most enduring of which are Old Mother West Wind and The Burgess Bird Book for Children. Burgess was a passionate twentieth-century conservationist who dedicated his life to teaching children and their families about the importance of the natural life of the northern North American forest.
The Green Meadow Stories compilation is made up of four distinct but entwined tales: those of Happy Jack Squirrel, Mrs. Peter Rabbit, Bowser the Hound, and Old Granny Fox. Through the adventures of these focal characters readers are introduced to the wider territory of the Green Meadows, the Green Forest, and the Smiling Pond as well as to the animalsâ Great World.
The animals of Burgessâs stories are anthropomorphized, undoubtedly, but not caricatured: these are not the twee creatures of Disney cartoons. Their behaviour is explained in ways that would be understandable to a human childâthis is fiction, after allâbut Burgessâs âlittle people of the forestâ are not simply humans dressed in fur and feathers. The original illustrations in Burgessâs books (by Harrison Cady, not reproduced in this edition) show the animals wearing clothes, but Burgessâs own descriptions of animals are more natural and metaphorical, and less fantastic. For example, he describes Chatterer the Red Squirrel, âwho always wears a red coat with vest of white,â a compact way of communicating the look of a squirrel that many of todayâs children will never have seen with their own eyes. Less pleasantly, it is Peter Rabbitâs fur and flesh that is rent when Hooty the Owl tears Peterâs âcoatâ one night on the Old Pasture.
Burgess has tremendous respect for the creatures he depicts, as well as for their natural home. While the presentation of the Green Meadow is hardly âNature, red in tooth and claw,â it is surprisingly unsentimental. Peter Rabbit, for example, lives a highly anxious life under threat from the many predators who would enjoy having him for dinner; similarly, Happy Jack Squirrel experiences days and nights of terror when Shadow the Weasel discovers Happy Jackâs home and hunts him relentlessly. During a long, hard winter, Granny Fox and Reddy Fox come close to starving, and Old Man Coyote leads Bowser the Hound on a dangerous chase that may result in one or the other dying. Despite other fanciful, sentimental elements of storytelling, Burgess does not sugarcoat prey/predator relationships or the precarity of wild animalsâ lives.
Burgess is a clear conservationist in his representations of hunting. The animals are highly aware of hunters and their âdreadful guns.â It is a notable moment in this collection when Farmer Brownâs Boy decides he will no longer use his gun to harm the little people of the Green Meadow and the Green Forest. The stories are also notable in their detailed representation of a largely intact forest, something few children in the twenty-first century will experience.
On the other hand, these are books for children, and they contain plenty of sweetness and light. Animal pairingsâsuch as when Peter Rabbit meets the dainty Little Miss Fuzzytail, the future Mrs. Rabbitâare vague but sentimental and soon lead to proud new families of Rabbits, Ducks, Deer, and Owls. The âlittle peopleâ celebrate the arrival of each springâs babies, mark each otherâs new relationships and homes, play together, and even help each other survive. They laugh, tease, and trick each otherâa fanciful interpretation of animal behaviour that could lead to a readerâs life-long fascination with, and respect for, forest creaturesâand for generations of readers, they did just that.
The stories are also more didactic than most twenty-first-century authors would dare to be. There are morals associated with most stories, often attributed to the animal about whom the story is being told. Through this practical teaching, Burgess suggests a correspondence between how animals and humans live; but he consistently clarifies that animal intelligence is different from, but certainly no less than, human intelligence.
Unlike the bouncy rhyming verses of many of todayâs childrenâs books, Burgessâs sentences have a somewhat old-fashioned cadence, creating the distinct and appealing music of traditional storytelling. Burgessâs episodic chapters are eminently readable and particularly come to life when they are voiced by animated reading-aloud. For older readers looking for something different to share with children, or for new readers beginning to tackle âchapter books,â the tales of the Green Meadow Stories collection are a delightful place to discover Burgess and his animal friends.
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- Author: Thornton W. Burgess
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So he followed Happy Jack across the dooryard and up the maple tree. He took his time about it, for he knew by the way Happy Jack had run that he was pretty nearly at the end of his strength. âHe neverâll get out of this tree,â thought Shadow, as he started to climb it. He fully expected to find Happy Jack huddled in a miserable little heap somewhere near the top. Just imagine how surprised he was when he discovered that Happy Jack wasnât to be seen. He rubbed his angry little red eyes, and they grew angrier and redder than before.
âMust be a hollow up here somewhere,â he muttered. âIâll just follow the scent of his feet, and that will lead me to him.â
But when that scent led him out on a branch the tip of which brushed against Farmer Brownâs house Shadow got another surprise. There was no sign of Happy Jack. He couldnât have reached the roof. There was no place he could have gone unlessâ â. Shadow stared across at a window open about two inches.
âHe couldnât have!â muttered Shadow. âHe wouldnât dare. He couldnât have!â
But Happy Jack had. He had gone inside that window.
XXVI Farmer Brownâs Boy Wakes with a StartNever think another crazy just because it happens you
Neverâve heard of just the thing that they have started out to do.
Isnât it queer how hard it seems to be for some boys to go to bed at the proper time and how much harder it is for them to get up in the morning? It was just so with Farmer Brownâs boy. I suppose he wouldnât have been a real boy if it hadnât been so. Of course, while he was sick with the mumps, he didnât have to get up, and while he was getting over the mumps his mother let him sleep as long as he wanted to in the morning. That was very nice, but it made it all the harder to get up when he should after he was well again. In summer it wasnât so bad getting up early, but in winterâ âwell, that was the one thing about winter that Farmer Brownâs boy didnât like.
On this particular morning Farmer Brown had called him, and he had replied with a sleepy âAll right.â and then had rolled over and promptly gone to sleep again. In two minutes he was dreaming just as if there were no such things as duties to be done. For a while they were very pleasant dreams, very pleasant indeed. But suddenly they changed. A terrible monster was chasing him. It had great red eyes as big as saucers, and sparks of fire flew from its mouth. It had great claws as big as ice tongs, and it roared like a lion. In his dream Farmer Brownâs boy was running with all his might. Then he tripped and fell, and somehow he couldnât get up again. The terrible monster came nearer and nearer. Farmer Brownâs boy tried to scream and couldnât. He was so frightened that he had lost his voice. The terrible monster was right over him now and reached out one of his huge paws with the great claws. One of them touched him on the cheek, and it burned like fire.
With a yell, a real, genuine yell, Farmer Brownâs boy awoke and sprang out of bed. For a minute he couldnât think where he was. Then with a sigh of relief he realized that he was safe in his own snug little room with the first Jolly Little Sunbeam creeping in at the window to wish him good morning and chide him for being such a lazy fellow. A thump and a scurry of little feet caught his attention, and he turned to see a Gray Squirrel running for the open window. It jumped up on the sill, looked out, then jumped down inside again, and ran over to a corner of the room, where he crouched as if in great fear. It was clear that he had been badly frightened by the yell of Farmer Brownâs boy, and that he was still more frightened by something he had seen when he looked out of the window.
A great light broke over Farmer Brownâs boy. âHappy Jack, you little rascal, I believe you are the terrible monster that scared me so!â he exclaimed. âI believe you were on my bed, and that it was your claws that I felt on my face. But what ails you? You look frightened almost to death.â
He went over to the window and looked out. A movement in the big maple tree just outside caught his attention. He saw a long, slim white form dart down the tree and disappear. He knew who it was. It was Shadow the Weasel.
âSo that pesky Weasel has been after you again, and you came to me for help,â said he gently, as he coaxed Happy Jack to come to him. âThis is the place to come to every time. Poor little chap, youâre all of a tremble. I guess I know how you feel when a Weasel is after you. I guess you feel just as I felt when I dreamed that that monster was after me. My, but you certainly did give me a scare when you touched my face!â He gently stroked Happy Jack as he talked, and Happy Jack let him.
âBreakfast!â called a voice from downstairs.
âComing!â replied Farmer Brownâs boy as he put Happy Jack on the table by a dish of nuts and began to scramble into his clothes.
XXVII Happy Jack Is Afraid to Go HomeSafety first is the best rule to insure a long life.
Happy JackHappy Jack didnât dare go home. Can you think of anything more dreadful than to be afraid to go to your own home? Why, home is the dearest
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