Bannertail: The Story of a Greysquirrel

by Ernest Thompson Seton

Presumably the story of squirrel called Bannertail. Not much information out there, and I've not read it yet.

Genres: Middle Grade

265 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 1922

About the author

Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian (and naturalized U.S. citizen) who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Seton also heavily influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting. His notable books related to Scouting include The Birch Bark Roll and The Boy Scout Handbook. He is responsible for the strong influence of American Indian culture in the BSA.

He was born Ernest Evan Thompson in South Shields, County Durham (now part of South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear), England of Scottish parents and his family emigrated to Canada in 1866. As a youth, he retreated to the woods to draw and study animals as a way of avoiding his abusive father. He won a scholarship in art to the Royal Academy in London, England.

He later rejected his father and changed his name to Ernest Thompson Seton. He believed that Seton had been an important name in his paternal line. He developed a fascination with wolves while working as a naturalist for Manitoba. He became successful as a writer, artist and naturalist, and moved to New York City to further his career. Seton later lived at Wyndygoul, an estate that he built in Cos Cob, a section of Greenwich, Connecticut. After experiencing vandalism by the local youth, Seton invited them to his estate for a weekend where he told stories of the American Indians and of nature.

He formed the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 and invited the local youth to join. The stories became a series of articles written for the Ladies Home Journal and were eventually collected in the The Birch Bark Roll of the Woodcraft Indians in 1906.

He was married twice. The first marriage was to Grace Gallatin in 1896. Their only daughter, Ann, was born in 1904 and died in 1990. Ann, who later changed her first name, became a best-selling author of historical and biographical novels as Anya Seton. According to her introduction to the novel Green Darkness, both of her parents were practicing Theosophists. Ernest and Grace divorced in 1935, and Ernest soon married Julia M. Buttree. Julia would write works by herself and with Ernest. They did not have any children, but did adopt an infant daughter, Beulah (Dee) Seton (later Dee Seton Barber), in 1938. Dee Seton Barber died in 2006.

Reviews

[Rebecca Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because there was only one book named for the Newbery Award in 1923, I was curious to see what other books for children were published in 1922. Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel by Ernest Thompson Seton (Charles Scribner, 1922) was a delightful contrast to the early 1920s books I’ve read so far, with an animal protagonist and a natural forest setting. With straightforward text, Seton tells the story of Bannertail’s life, from his being orphaned as an infant to raising his children. The author’s quick sketches and detailed illustrations add to the text he has written.

One great thing about this book is that there is no horrible racism! On the other hand, some nature lovers will be horrified by the very first scene:


The farm boy who saw it, gave a little yelp of savage triumph; his caveman nature broke out. Clubs and stones were lying near, the whirling end of a stick picked off the mother Squirrel as she tried to escape with a little one in her mouth. Had he killed two dangerous enemies the boy could not have yelled louder. Then up the tree he climbed and found in the nest two living young ones. With these in his pocket he descended. When on the ground he found that one was dead, crushed in climbing down. Thus only one little Squirrel was left alive, only one of the family that he had seen, the harmless mother and two helpless, harmless little ones dead in his hands.

Chapter 1, “The Foundling”
Senseless violence in the first scene will probably turn off many of the young readers. Tor the reader willing to pass over this, the story of Bannertail’s upbringing was educational as well as amusing. The first funny scene is that the young boy takes Bannertail into his barn, where the mother cat is nursing her baby. Thus, Bannertails first weeks are as a kitten! Once he returns to the woods, he must follow instinct as well as learn some of the squirrel-y things he did not know before. It is obvious that Seton, the author, is familiar with animals and has spent time studying gray squirrels in developing his story.

The chapters are short, although some of the text toward the end does seem to drag as Seton describes aspects from “Mother Carey” (aka, Mother Nature) that affect the squirrel family now and in the future. There is also another scene of a squirrel dying — Bannertail’s foolish son. This time, it is a child that could (possibly) have been hitting the squirrel in order to take the meat home to eat. (Parents can frame this section of story in that light: squirrels have been food for generations of people and probably for many people who are in nature today.)

Bannertail is not a book that all children will enjoy reading. For the animal lover, Bannertail is a beautiful peek into a woods looking at a squirrels in a new perspective. One could even use this book as a “living textbook” about squirrels and forest survival in a homeschool course.

I found Bannertail to be far superior to The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle, the Newbery Medal winner for 1923. While that winner was certainly amusing for children, with it’s blatant racism, it should not be read today. I’d much prefer for Bannertail to hold that honor.

Here’s my after-reading question: Would it be wrong to rewrite/adapt the first chapter’s passage to make it less horrifying? I’m not one for “banning” or “censoring” books. However, I feel the description of killing the innocent squirrel family detracts from the general feel of the rest of the book and will deter many readers who would otherwise enjoy the book. What to do?

See at Rebecca Reads: https://reviews.rebeccareid.com/banne...

[Marta Susana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado bastante, pero me ha hecho pensar que éste libro es claramente de otro siglo. Sin azúcar, sin historias estilo Disney, sin finales felices donde los animales viven felices para siempre. Los buenos premiados por su virtud y los malvados castigados por su maldad. Nada de eso. La vida de los animales descrita con sinceridad y crudeza. La muerte aparece sin rubor. Destila sinceridad sobre la vida y la muerte y creo que cada vez estamos menos preparados para aceptarlas sin edulcorantes.