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Sleepy-Time Tales

The Tale Of Fatty Coon

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Sleepy Time The Tale of Fatty Coon is a children's book written by Arthur Scott Bailey. The book tells the story of Fatty Coon, a lazy raccoon who loves to eat and sleep. Fatty's adventures begin when he wakes up from his winter hibernation and starts to explore the forest. Along the way, he meets other animals such as Buster Bear, Jimmy Rabbit, and Sammy Jay. Fatty's love of food often gets him into trouble, but his cleverness and resourcefulness help him get out of sticky situations. The book is filled with charming illustrations that bring the characters to life and is a delightful read for young children before bedtime.Now, Farmer Green and his hired man had not chopped long before they stopped to breathe. They had not chopped long--but oh! what great, yawning holes they had made in the big chestnut! From the limb where he clung Fatty Coon looked down. The tree no longer shook. And Fatty felt better at once. You see, he thought that the men would go away, just as Johnnie had gone away the night before. But they had no such idea at all.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1915

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About the author

Arthur Scott Bailey

106 books13 followers
Arthur Scott Bailey (1877 – 1949) was an American writer. He was the author of more than forty children's books. He was born on November 15, 1877, in St. Albans, Vermont, United States, the second child of Winfield Scott Bailey and Harriet Sarah Goodhue (a girl, Ellen was born in 1876). Winfield Bailey owned a dry goods shop that was stated to be "one of the most reputable of St. Albans mercantile concerns" and specialized in furs; namely ladies' fur coats, muffs and scarves. Bailey attended St. Albans Academy and graduated in 1896, in a class of only eleven other students. He then went on to the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont, where he became involved in a fraternal organization, Sigma Phi (with which he was very active through at least 1915; he joined the organization's Catalogue Committee in 1914 as a vice chairman, after the resignation of Dr. Alexander Duane).

However, he left UVM in 1901 and transferred to Harvard, where he earned his bachelor's degree. After graduating Harvard in 1902, Bailey traveled to Chicago and put his knowledge of growing up in his father's store to good use, becoming a wholesale grocery merchant. This lasted until 1904, when Bailey travelled to New York City and became an editor for various publishers. Which publishers these were is unknown, with the exception of the Macaulay Company, where he was working in early 1915. He was married around this time (on September 14, 1913) to Estella W. Goodspeed, a St. Albans woman; the wedding was held in his hometown. Estella Goodspeed, whose maiden name had been Crampton, had been married once before to an unknown Mr. Nelson Allen Goodspeed, and had a son, Allen Wright Goodspeed and daughter, Estella Joanne Goodspeed. Allen Goodspeed was born on August 5, 1906, and would have been nine when the first Sleepy-Time Tales were written (Estella was born in 1908.) As Bailey did not write prior to his marriage to Estella, it can be surmised that he first started crafting his stories for Allen and Estella, whom he treated as his own children. Estella Joanne later married a Mr. Lennox Stuart and moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Bailey's writing has been thus described by the Newark Evening News: "Mr. Bailey centered all his plots in the animal, bird and insect worlds, weaving natural history into the stories in a way that won educator's approval without arousing the suspicions of his young readers. He made it a habit to never 'write down' to children and frequently used words beyond the average juvenile vocabulary, believing that youngsters respond to the stimulus of the unfamiliar."

His work also includes the comic strip Animal Whys, which was syndicated in 1937.

Bailey was also known for being an intellectual, and was a member of the Salamagundi Club of New York. When it came to religion, Bailey was a Unitarian (who have long had a presence in St. Albans) and politically, he was a Republican of the old school.

Bailey died on October 17, 1949, at 71 years of age.

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Cair-Paravel Emyth Brenn De Luney  Morrow .
294 reviews3 followers
August 30, 2020
Fatty Coon is a curious little raccoon with a massive appetite for anything he can get his jaws around. He has a penchant for bother Farmer Green and learns very little from the lessons he come by along the way.

Mr. Bailey was rather good at making these critters come alive and this is only one of many of his similar stories. The stories are best read with it in mind that they were written in 1915 and the world was so very different then. I love them and the fact that science is there every step of the way.

I am looking forward to reading all of his books and seeing how they turn out.

I am volunteering an honest review for the benefit of others.
Profile Image for Shamesdean.
23 reviews
March 15, 2012
for a kids book, not that bad but iprobably wouldn't read it to my daughter. kind of shit house actually.
Profile Image for Gary.
312 reviews3 followers
November 8, 2011
Copyright 1916 from the library of Lloyd Johnson. Fatty personifies gluttony-a good role model...
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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