The Tale of Reddy Woodpecker

Tuck-Me-In Tales

by Arthur Scott Bailey

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

Genres: Classics, School, Childrens, Fiction

128 pages, Nook

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Mummy Cat Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son and I read this book, along with the other books that take place in Pleasant Valley, through his home school program. I've never read anything by Bailey before until this year.

Reddy Woodpecker is new to Pleasant Valley. He was flying over and decided to land for a spell. He found that he liked the area so he decided to stay. Once the locals and neighbors discovered him, they were very rude and unwelcoming. Reddy took it all in stride.

This book has recurring characters from the other books by Bailey. This is why I consider them a series together.

I still haven't figured out Bailey and his motivations to his writing. I'm not saying his stories are bad, because they're not. My son was entertained by them but not overly so. They are clearly older by design, language and feel of the stories. So, I don't know if the age has something to do with it or the way the characters interact with each other. They are all freakin rude!

Overall, Bailey's books are interesting to children. My son likes how the characters are all animals. We have learned about new species and species of birds through reading his books. We have learned about manners...HOLY COW...manners. The chapters are not very long, which is good for children. The chapters are not overly complex but Bailey is the master at leaving something for the reader to ponder about. Something that happens between the lines.

Content: clean

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book as much or more than Jolly Robin. The birds were arguing and doing silly antics that made us giggle. Cuffy Bear went hunting with Reddy Woodpecker and learned lessons about greed. Cute stories.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining and sweet short children’s story. Too bad there aren’t any illustrations in the Kindle version.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute story