The Burgess Flower Book for Children: With 103 Original Illustrations in Black and White

by Thornton W. Burgess

The Burgess Flower Book
Peter Rabbit is back again to learn about wild flowers. This classic nature book is intended to introduce children to the subject of flower life in North America. Peter’s friends introduce him to a variety of wild flowers where he (and the reader) learn about their scents, appearance, and environment. A great introduction to anthology for children. This edition is derived from the original book published in 1923 and contains 103 original black & white illustrations . As always, this edition is complete and unabridged.

Genres: Childrens, School

269 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1923

About the author

Thornton W. (Waldo) Burgess (1874-1965), American author, naturalist and conservationist, wrote popular children's stories including the Old Mother West Wind (1910) series. He would go on to write more than 100 books and thousands of short-stories during his lifetime.

Thornton Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column, "Bedtime Stories". He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man. By the time he retired, he had written more than 170 books and 15,000 stories for the daily newspaper column.

Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, Burgess was the son of Caroline F. Haywood and Thornton W. Burgess Sr., a direct descendant of Thomas Burgess, one of the first Sandwich settlers in 1637. Thornton W. Burgess, Sr., died the same year his son was born, and the young Thornton Burgess was brought up by his mother in Sandwich. They both lived in humble circumstances with relatives or paying rent. As a youth, he worked year round in order to earn money. Some of his jobs included tending cows, picking trailing arbutus or berries, shipping water lilies from local ponds, selling candy and trapping muskrats. William C. Chipman, one of his employers, lived on Discovery Hill Road, a wildlife habitat of woodland and wetland. This habitat became the setting of many stories in which Burgess refers to Smiling Pool and the Old Briar Patch.

Graduating from Sandwich High School in 1891, Burgess briefly attended a business college in Boston from 1892 to 1893, living in Somerville, Massachusetts, at that time. But he disliked studying business and wanted to write. He moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he took a job as an editorial assistant at the Phelps Publishing Company. His first stories were written under the pen name W. B. Thornton.

Burgess married Nina Osborne in 1905, but she died only a year later, leaving him to raise their son alone. It is said that he began writing bedtime stories to entertain his young son, Thornton III. Burgess remarried in 1911; his wife Fannie had two children by a previous marriage. The couple later bought a home in Hampden, Massachusetts, in 1925 that became Burgess' permanent residence in 1957. His second wife died in August 1950. Burgess returned frequently to Sandwich, which he always claimed as his birthplace and spiritual home.

In 1960, Burgess published his last book, "Now I Remember, Autobiography of an Amateur Naturalist," depicting memories of his early life in Sandwich, as well as his career highlights. That same year, Burgess, at the age of 86, had published his 15,000th story. He died on June 5, 1965, at the age of 91 in Hampden, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fabulous. I wish that I had been exposed to it when I was a child, but am glad that it was introduced to me when our children can appreciate it. This book is written for children, but it is quite long so would in most cases be a good book for a parent to read with their children. It will educate both the children and the parents!

The story (if you will call it that) takes place over the course of several months beginning in early spring when the first flowers begin to emerge through September when flowers stop blooming. The main character is Peter Rabbit who discovers the joys of flowers afresh. As he discovers his first bloom in the spring, he eagerly adventures throughout the countryside to find what new flowers may be blooming. He is helped along by his friends the bumblebee, toad, hare, gentle breezes, hummingbird, sparrow, and other bird friends who show him new flowers and teach him about them. The description of each flower is very detailed and accompanied by photographs. The book not only teaches many varieties of flowers, but also encourages a young person to pay more attention to details in creation. Burgess also wrote an animal book for children and a bird book for children which e has enjoyed reading. These three books are excellent books to accompany nature study.

[Tiffany Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope the Burgess books are core memories for my children the way they are core motherhood memories for me. Highly recommend starting this one in spring and reading through the end of summer. We were able to find a lot of the same flowers as Peter lining it up with the seasons. 🌷

[Shaunda Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a still a beautiful book, we found this harder to follow than the Animal, Bird and Seashore Books. I would definitely suggest reading aloud with a separate book of pictures for children to look at and see the different parts of the flowers.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of color plates of the flowers described, and an emphasis of not picking the flowers so that others can enjoy them too.

[Courtney Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have enjoyed all the Burgess books.

[Karissa Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh I enjoy reading Burgess books for children to my sons