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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âOld Man Coyote knows something about it, too,â muttered Sammy, as he turned his head on one side and scratched his pointed cap thoughtfully. âHe canât fool me. That old rascal knows where Bowser is, or what has happened to him, and I wouldnât be a bit surprised if he had something to do with it. I almost know he did from the way he grinned.â
The day was not half over before all through the Green Forest and over the Green Meadows had spread the report that Bowser the Hound was no more.
X How Reddy Fox InvestigatedInvest-i-gate if you would know
That something is or isnât so.
To invest-i-gate something means to try to find out about it. Reddy Fox had heard from so many different ones about the disappearance of Bowser that he finally made up his mind that he would invest-i-gate and find out for himself if it were true that Bowser was no longer at home in Farmer Brownâs dooryard. If it were trueâ âwell, Reddy had certain plans of his own in regard to Farmer Brownâs henhouse.
Reddy had begun by doubting that story because it seemed to have come first from Old Man Coyote. Reddy would doubt anything with which Old Man Coyote was concerned. But Reddy had finally come to believe that something certainly had happened because half a dozen times during the day he had heard Farmer Brownâs boy whistle and whistle and call and call.
Just as soon as the Black Shadows came creeping out from the Purple Hills, Reddy started up towards Farmer Brownâs. He didnât go directly there, because he never goes directly anywhere if there is the least chance in the world that anyone may be watching him. But as he slipped along in the blackest of the Black Shadows, he was all the time working nearer and nearer to Farmer Brownâs dooryard. Although he was inclined to think it was true that Bowser was not there, he was far too wise to take any unnecessary risk. He approached Farmer Brownâs dooryard just as carefully as if he knew Bowser to be in his little house as usual. He kept in the Black Shadows. He crouched so low that he seemed hardly more than a Black Shadow himself. Every two or three steps he stopped to look, listen, and test the air with his keen nose.
As he drew near Bowserâs own little house, Reddy circled out around it until he could see the doorway. Then he sat down where he could peek around from behind a tree and watch. He had been there only a few moments when the back door of Farmer Brownâs house opened and Farmer Brownâs boy stepped out. Reddy didnât run. He knew that Farmer Brownâs boy would never dream that he would dare come so near. Besides, it was very clear that Farmer Brownâs boy was thinking of no one but Bowser. He whistled and called just as he had done several times during the day. But no Bowser came, so after a while Farmer Brownâs boy went back into the house. There was a worried look on his face.
As soon as he heard the door close, Reddy trotted right out in the open and sat down only a few feet from the black doorway of Bowserâs little house. Reddy barked softly. Then he barked a little louder. He knew that if Bowser were at home, that bark would bring him out if nothing else did. Bowser didnât appear. Reddy grinned. He was sure now that Bowser was nowhere about. Chuckling to himself, he turned and trotted towards Farmer Brownâs henhouse.
XI A Little UnpleasantnessWatch a Coyote most closely when it appears that he least needs watching.
Bowser the HoundNever in his life had Reddy Fox visited Farmer Brownâs henhouse with quite such a comfortable feeling as he now had. He knew for a certainty that Bowser the Hound was not at home. He knew because he had finally crept up and peeped in the door of Bowserâs little house. What had become of Bowser he didnât know, and he didnât care. It was enough to know that he wasnât about.
âI hope Farmer Brownâs boy has forgotten to close that little doorway where the hens run in and out,â muttered Reddy, as he trotted across Farmer Brownâs dooryard. Once he stopped, and looking up at the lighted windows of the house, grinned. You see, with Bowser gone, Reddy wasnât the least bit afraid.
âIf I can get into that henhouse,â thought Reddy, âI certainly will have one good feast tonight. That is, I will if those stupid hens are not roosting so high that I canât get them. Iâll eat one right there.â Reddyâs mouth watered at the very thought. âThen Iâll take one home to Mrs. Reddy. If there is time we both will come back for a couple more.â
So Reddy made pleasant plans as he approached Farmer Brownâs henhouse. When he reached it he paused to listen to certain sounds within, certain fretful little cluckings. Reddy sat down for a minute with his tongue hanging out and the water actually dripping from it. He could shut his eyes and see those roosts with the hens crowded together so that every once in a while one would be wakened and fretfully protest against being crowded so.
But Reddy sat there only for a minute. He was too eager to find out if it would prove to be possible to get inside that henhouse. Running swiftly but cautiously past the henhouse and along one side of the henyard, he peeped around the corner to see if by any
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