The best book ever!!

Read aloud to Isaac.

Great for young children, we listened to it over breakfast and lunch as an audio-book!

This was a very long readaloud project, which we completed, a chapter or two per week, over the course of an academic year, finally finishing (!) today.

I wouldn't put (probably no one puts) Thornton Burgess beside the greatest writers, and this book lacks the brilliance I could imagine it having. It is, however, well worth reading for a treatment of mammals in North America that is both comprehensive and comprehensible by children, and, despite an undeniable tedium and thinness of story, containing a surprising liveliness and loveliness.

I feel personally enriched to have read about all mammals on this continent, most of which I knew, vaguely, about, and some of which were total discoveries. Chapters on the marsh rabbit, bat, beaver, prairie dog, bear, arctic animals, moose, mountain sheep and goat, and bison were particularly intriguing to me. It was also fun to read more about the handful of animals we know well from daily experience — grey squirrels, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, skunks, deer — and to gain a bit of a foothold in taxonomy.

All in all, a great book as an introduction to the animal kingdom, a superb school book, even if it's not one I would dedicate my free time to.

As a final note, the illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes are truly excellent, as detailed as a field guide but composed with more aesthetic and narrative sensitivity. (I think Fuertes is probably a better artist than Burgess is an author.)

A good overview of the animals of North America in an engaging manner. This book was my daughter's favorite from her AO Year 2 books.

Bought this book as part of the Blossom and Root curriculum. We love it. May be more complex or dated for some but otherwise it teaches good lessons and animal facts.

Read aloud for Yr 3 & Yr 1 students & although they did enjoy parts of it, we got tired of the classroom format & narrations suffered from lack of story.

Great book of knowledge

Contains a fair amount of negative reference to hunters, which I chose to omit while reading aloud to my children. Still the book is full of wonderful information about all the mammals that live in North America.

Ok.... this is a doozy of a book. We normally love everything we read by Burgess, but this was just awful. We were constantly stopping to look up pictures of animals so that we could figure out what was being discussed... normally that is to be expected, but this time it was in excess. Also, the stress on knowing the official classification of the animals is outdated. We have moved on to an assortment of other living books about animals, and we are perfectly happy now.

This book is a treasure. All the characters in this and the previous book (about birds) come to life for my children whenever we see them outside! I am finally understanding the appeal of classic literature. I think it’s the connection you feel knowing you’re reading and captivated by the same words that have been read and enjoyed for generations. It’s so special and I feel truly lucky that I’m able to share these stories with my children!

I thought that this Burgess animal book was actually, really good to read. I love it because there are stories inside with animals that I really like. I hope some of my friends and other people will enjoy this book when they read it!

4 stars & 4/10 hearts. I grew up on the Burgess books. <3 My mother read this one to me & my siblings for school and since then I've often reread it. This fall I read it aloud to my siblings--12, 10, 7, & 5. We all loved it! Some of this information is dated, but if does give you a good base of knowledge to build on, and really what it does (and what it is supposed to do) is make you acquainted with the animals of North America (she keeps saying 'our country' but she actually means 'our continent'... sigh). The animals become real people... your friends. And that's why I love Burgess' books, because it makes the animals LIVE. It's ever so much more fun to "know" Chatterer the Red Squirrel than just call him a plain old red squirrel. My siblings, as I said, really loved the story as much as I did and enjoyed learning all that information.
Note: Throughout this book, the "school" is taught by "Old Mother Nature." I simply called that personage "Mrs. Burgess." I very quickly fell into the habit of always switching it to "Mrs. Burgess" and by the end I nearly changed "Old Man Coyote" to "Mrs. Burgess" out of habit! There are also mentions that the animals are "her children." I changed it to "God's creatures."
In short, this is a well-written, entertaining, enjoyable read which I recommend for all children! And can someone explain to me why I tear up at the end???

A Favourite Quote: “‘I hope that what you have learned will be of use to you as long as you live. The more knowledge you possess the better fitted for your part in the work of the Great World you will be. Don’t forget that, and never miss a chance to learn.’”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Well, Peter,” said she. “What is it now? Did you have a narrow escape on your way here?”
Peter shook his head. “No,” he replied. “No, I didn’t have a narrow escape, but I discovered something.”
Happy Jack Squirrel snickered. “Peter is always discovering something,” said he. “He is a great little discoverer. Probably he has just found out that the only way to get anywhere on time is to start soon enough.”