the gift of a good read: thornton w. burgess books

Although the good weather seasons are dominated by getting out into the fresh air and releasing lots of energy, I always have good reads on hand. In fact, this season is such a physical one that I usually unwind in the evenings (or afternoons if I get a chance) by reading.

My goal is to read each day with my daughter and son, not as a group, but one on one. This is one of the top three activities I most enjoy doing with my children. I love, love, love this time.

For months and months my son and I have been making our way through Thornton W. Burgess' animal series. Since my son enjoys reading these so much, even reading them on his own, I have invested in purchasing them. Each book is between two and three dollars, not much in my opinion for such wonderful reads (I've purchased mine through amazon.com; my library also has copies of a few titles). 

Burgess has created and amazing world consisting of The Laughing Brook, The Smiling Pond, The Green Meadows, The Green Forest, The Old Orchard, Farmer Brown's House, Jolly Round Red Mr. Sun and more. This world is filled with creatures such as a mink, an otter, a toad, a frog, a hound, a beaver, a bear, a crow, a blue jay, a gray squirrel, foxes, rabbits, a coyote, a turtle and many more! 

Each creature has his own book featuring him as the central character with his own adventures which include many places in this fictional world and relating to the other characters. Burgess' tales emphasize the natural world and always have a piece of wisdom to share. Each book is written in a way for a young elementary school age child to understand and enjoy; we frequently laugh at these animal tales too. Since my son is more selective in what he enjoys (my daughter will read anything), I wanted to highlight this series in case any of my readers with young ones need a recommendation.