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Uncle Wiggily #3
Uncle Wiggily's Adventures
Uncle Wiggily Longears in this book by Howard Roger Garis.
Uncle Wiggily, an engaging elderly rabbit, is lame from rheumatism. Whenever he goes anywhere, he always relies on what Garis describes as "his candy-striped walking cane" - this is a cane striped red and white like a peppermint candy cane.
The books are illustrated by August Lenox.
Uncle Wiggily, an engaging elderly rabbit, is lame from rheumatism. Whenever he goes anywhere, he always relies on what Garis describes as "his candy-striped walking cane" - this is a cane striped red and white like a peppermint candy cane.
The books are illustrated by August Lenox.
77 pages
First published January 1, 1912
55 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
About the author
Howard R. Garis
862 books29 followersHoward Roger Garis graduated from Binghamton High School and attended Stevens Institute of Technology at Hoboken, New Jersey. From 1896 to 1947, Mr. Garis was a reporter and special writer for the Newark, New Jersey "Evening News." His Uncle Wiggily stories first appeared in the "News" in 1910, were sydicated in 1915, and continued to be published for more than forty years, at one time appearing in one hundred newspapers.
Howard R. Garis wrote 35 volumes of Uncle Wiggily stories under his own name, as well as numerous other children's books under several pseudonyms. Among series Garis contributed to are Tom Swift (as Victor Appleton), the Bobbsey Twins (as Laura Lee Hope), the Motor Boys (as Clarence Young), the Great Marvel series, and books featuring Baseball Joe (as Lester Chadwick) and the Camp Fire Girls (as Marion Davidson). He also wrote "With Force of Arms" (1902), four volumes of the Rocket Riders series, and seven volumes of the Teddy series. His wife, Lilian McNamara Garas, whom he married in 1900, collaborated on several of his books including the Bobbsey Twins volumes.
He had a son, Roger.
Howard R. Garis wrote 35 volumes of Uncle Wiggily stories under his own name, as well as numerous other children's books under several pseudonyms. Among series Garis contributed to are Tom Swift (as Victor Appleton), the Bobbsey Twins (as Laura Lee Hope), the Motor Boys (as Clarence Young), the Great Marvel series, and books featuring Baseball Joe (as Lester Chadwick) and the Camp Fire Girls (as Marion Davidson). He also wrote "With Force of Arms" (1902), four volumes of the Rocket Riders series, and seven volumes of the Teddy series. His wife, Lilian McNamara Garas, whom he married in 1900, collaborated on several of his books including the Bobbsey Twins volumes.
He had a son, Roger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 4, 2015
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the old rabbit gentleman, was a familiar character to me in my early days. I can't remember if my parents read the stories to me, or if I read them myself, or what. I honestly don't remember the books at all, but I know I had some type of toy (most likely a board game) featuring Uncle Wiggily and his friends.
Anyway, the point is, when I stumbled across some of the Uncle Wiggily books on Project Gutenberg, I naturally had to add them to my Someday list to see if reading them now jogged any memories of Way Back Then. Well, that didn't happen but I had a delightful couple of evenings following Uncle Wiggily around on his adventures while he looked for his fortune and tried to lose his rheumatism. The whole trip was under doctor's orders, by the way. That Dr. Possum sure knew what Uncle Wiggily needed to do to keep himself healthy!
This book was published in 1912, and is made up of 31 stories, meant to be read aloud one each night at bedtime. Now I don't know about the children the author was thinking about, but if it had been me listening to these stories I would never have been able to sleep for worrying about Uncle Wiggily. At the end of the first chapter he has been locked into a closet by a big black bear who plans to eat him! And to think of having to wait until bedtime the next day to learn whether or not he gets away....oh, the stress!
This is a fun book to read silently, but it would be even more fun to read aloud. Uncle Wiggily has some cute expressions, such as "Oh, dear me and a potato pancake!" or "Why, my goodness me, sakes alive and a bunch of lilacs!" And the author adds bits every so often that would trigger giggles in almost any child, unless they have changed a lot since I was little.
I found myself looking forward to the end of each chapter just to see what the "in case" reason was going to be. He would say something like And in the next story, providing our wash lady doesn't put my new straw hat in the soap suds, and take all the color out of the ribbon, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and Fido Flip-Flop. Another was if our cook makes some nice watermelon sandwiches, with maple syrup on them, for supper.... But my favorite (because our fruit vendor drove up just when I was reading this one) in case the banana man brings me some pink oranges for the elephant's little boy... What child with imagination would not have plenty to think about after hearing that?!
I enjoyed this little book so much that I am going to hop right into the second Uncle Wiggily book, Uncle Wiggily's Travels . He was still wandering the forest looking for his fortune at the end of this book and I simply cannot leave him that way!
Anyway, the point is, when I stumbled across some of the Uncle Wiggily books on Project Gutenberg, I naturally had to add them to my Someday list to see if reading them now jogged any memories of Way Back Then. Well, that didn't happen but I had a delightful couple of evenings following Uncle Wiggily around on his adventures while he looked for his fortune and tried to lose his rheumatism. The whole trip was under doctor's orders, by the way. That Dr. Possum sure knew what Uncle Wiggily needed to do to keep himself healthy!
This book was published in 1912, and is made up of 31 stories, meant to be read aloud one each night at bedtime. Now I don't know about the children the author was thinking about, but if it had been me listening to these stories I would never have been able to sleep for worrying about Uncle Wiggily. At the end of the first chapter he has been locked into a closet by a big black bear who plans to eat him! And to think of having to wait until bedtime the next day to learn whether or not he gets away....oh, the stress!
This is a fun book to read silently, but it would be even more fun to read aloud. Uncle Wiggily has some cute expressions, such as "Oh, dear me and a potato pancake!" or "Why, my goodness me, sakes alive and a bunch of lilacs!" And the author adds bits every so often that would trigger giggles in almost any child, unless they have changed a lot since I was little.
I found myself looking forward to the end of each chapter just to see what the "in case" reason was going to be. He would say something like And in the next story, providing our wash lady doesn't put my new straw hat in the soap suds, and take all the color out of the ribbon, I'll tell you about Uncle Wiggily and Fido Flip-Flop. Another was if our cook makes some nice watermelon sandwiches, with maple syrup on them, for supper.... But my favorite (because our fruit vendor drove up just when I was reading this one) in case the banana man brings me some pink oranges for the elephant's little boy... What child with imagination would not have plenty to think about after hearing that?!
I enjoyed this little book so much that I am going to hop right into the second Uncle Wiggily book, Uncle Wiggily's Travels . He was still wandering the forest looking for his fortune at the end of this book and I simply cannot leave him that way!
July 4, 2012
I remember them from childhood, so they must have made some impression on me at the time, though upon rereading the Project Gutenberg versions, the stories strike me as too gooily saccharine for kids today, though there's nothing harmful in them.
Writing styles have just changed too much in the past hundred years, I guess.
Writing styles have just changed too much in the past hundred years, I guess.
December 22, 2013
Interesting for young ones and funny but somewhat repetitive.
March 3, 2021
I love Uncle Wiggily. When I was a kid, in the seventies and eighties, my parents used to read these stories to my brothers and I from antique copies that came from our family, or that we had picked up in used bookstores. These books really captured the rural, outdoors, fantasy-saturated world that I lived in. When I came out as gay in my mid twenties, I started collecting the books. During that period of time, my politics and world-view went progressively left. (They still are going left and I’m now in my forties). I read a few stories, looked at the pictures and was glad my parents introduced me to them. One day, I was reading one of the stories to my nieces and nephews and all of a sudden the whole picture clicked in my mind!!!! The unflattering images and descriptions of the skeezicks had strong, racist overtones. I was saddened and shocked and concerned. I was shocked because I hadn’t noticed that before. I don’t really know what to do with that info. I love the stories overall. They are a lot of fun and they bring back a lot of memories, but the racist imagery is so abhorrent. The United States is so steeped in racism, both subtle and overt. It must be eradicated. So then what do I do with these books? Do I just leave them on the trash piles of history so that I can clear my conscience and so that another generation is not infected with their racism? Or do I recognize the racism inherent in these writings, point them out and talk about them and then enjoy the good parts? I suppose this should be an easy decision but it’s not. For now though, people need to be aware of the racism inherent in the Uncle Wiggily stories.
April 18, 2020
I'm giving this five stars partly out of nostalgia, and partly because I found an old copy from my grandparents' basement (according to the flyleaf, it was a gift to my aunt in the early 50s), and I remembered my dad reading these stories to me, and I was kind of worried that it might be sneakily racist or something, but it turns out, no! It's fine! And my 5 year old son loved the stories. They are very simple and always the same - Uncle Wiggly is off to seek his fortune and cure his rheumatism, some fox or bear or dog tries to eat him, but he is either saved by a friend or otherwise finds a way to escape. Each story is just few pages, so every night we could read at least three of them. And they always end with some silly thing like "if the jackrabbit doesn't knock over the wastebin and spill my strawberry ice cream, I'll tell you next about Uncle Wiggly and the..." etc. Fred thought those were hilarious.
I was a little worried when UW encountered a gypsy camp, because it seemed like that might not age well, but then the gypsies didn't even figure in - some dogs just attacked him again. There might be objectionable parts in other UW books but not in this one. I also played the board game all the time as a kid - we'll have to get that so we can play that one too.
I was a little worried when UW encountered a gypsy camp, because it seemed like that might not age well, but then the gypsies didn't even figure in - some dogs just attacked him again. There might be objectionable parts in other UW books but not in this one. I also played the board game all the time as a kid - we'll have to get that so we can play that one too.
February 7, 2017
Was read to when young. I especially remember stories regarding measles and mumps, as I had these when introduced to Mr. Long Ears. These stories are not in this collection, so I guess I will have to seek my fortune elsewhere. Ha Ha, not another case of measles and mumps but the stories. I can't believe I was read these and wonder at a first or second grader today; would they also like these stories... I think they should. I'll have to try it out on my grandchildren when they are a little older.
August 15, 2017
okay - so it's a bit dated...but what the heck the kids loved it - at least i think they did. i missed it in my youth and so i enjoyed it with my grandkids (maybe i enjoyed it a little more than them)
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January 2, 2022Excellent book for reading to children
Silly, humorous and inventive. Wild adventures and madcap characters fill the book with stories best for children of all ages.
Silly, humorous and inventive. Wild adventures and madcap characters fill the book with stories best for children of all ages.
May 22, 2023
I liked the idea of it... bunny off on adventures. But overall it was okay. 3.5 maybe? okay-good?
July 28, 2024
Read this to conclude the homeschool year. A lot of fun adventures for my 6&4 year olds. Witty and clever.
September 18, 2024
Kinda quirky but my boys loved it!
July 22, 2016
My almost 4-year-old gives this five stars, I rate it three, and so we averaged.
It's made up of short chapters about Uncle Wiggily's adventures. The book encourages the young to request "just one more", as each one ends with either a teaser about the next adventure, or leaves Uncle Wiggily in mortal peril ("... the poor old gentleman rabbit clung to the topmost tree branch, wondering how in the world he was going to escape from the alligator. Oh, it was a dreadful position to be in! But please don't worry or stay awake over it, for I'll find a way to get him down safely.")
The language is simple for its day, which equates to well above the usual fare by today's kid lit standards. Definitely easier stuff than the Hollow Tree stories, though. There are a few details which would have been obvious to a child of Uncle Wiggily's heyday but need more detailed explanation to today's youngsters.
The version I am reading is off of Gutenberg, and is not well illustrated (at least in Kindle form). I think this varies by edition.
It's made up of short chapters about Uncle Wiggily's adventures. The book encourages the young to request "just one more", as each one ends with either a teaser about the next adventure, or leaves Uncle Wiggily in mortal peril ("... the poor old gentleman rabbit clung to the topmost tree branch, wondering how in the world he was going to escape from the alligator. Oh, it was a dreadful position to be in! But please don't worry or stay awake over it, for I'll find a way to get him down safely.")
The language is simple for its day, which equates to well above the usual fare by today's kid lit standards. Definitely easier stuff than the Hollow Tree stories, though. There are a few details which would have been obvious to a child of Uncle Wiggily's heyday but need more detailed explanation to today's youngsters.
The version I am reading is off of Gutenberg, and is not well illustrated (at least in Kindle form). I think this varies by edition.
November 28, 2014
Before the Berenstain Bears attempted to elevate insipidity to a major art form, there was Uncle Wiggily, the old bunny gentleman, who taught generations of children that condescension is all they deserve and that "childhood" is a synonym for "stupid." What? Your nostalgia tells you that I exaggerate? Here is the opening of Uncle Wiggily's Adventures:
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, hopped out of bed one morning and started to go to the window, to see if the sun was shining. But, no sooner had he stepped on the floor, than he cried out:
"Oh! Ouch! Oh, dear me and a potato pancake! Oh, I believe I stepped on a tack! Sammie Littletail must have left it there! How careless of him!"
So you see, boys and girls, "Dumb and Dumberer To" is À la recherche du temps perdu compared to the Old Lapine Cretin. And don't get me started on Thornton W. Burgess.
Uncle Wiggily Longears, the nice old gentleman rabbit, hopped out of bed one morning and started to go to the window, to see if the sun was shining. But, no sooner had he stepped on the floor, than he cried out:
"Oh! Ouch! Oh, dear me and a potato pancake! Oh, I believe I stepped on a tack! Sammie Littletail must have left it there! How careless of him!"
So you see, boys and girls, "Dumb and Dumberer To" is À la recherche du temps perdu compared to the Old Lapine Cretin. And don't get me started on Thornton W. Burgess.
February 9, 2013
Really needs 3 and a half. Uncle Wiggily is sent out via Dr. Possum to go on travels. Seeking his fortune is the pretext behind this, in order so that he might travel to help his rheumatism by moving about more. The adventures are filled with many critters of the forest and a number of insects, as well as bad guys and giants and a circuses and fairs; All that is fit in the usual run of Uncle Wiggily's escapades. Originally published in 1912, so there are a few definitions and descriptions of things that will raise eye brows, such as a goose being called a duck on occasion.
April 27, 2015
Reading this as an adult had me reminiscing the whole time to the bedtime stories my dad would read to me and my sister. Love it. Our Uncle Wiggly book had illustrations that I remember still-- the spearmint leaves pressing between the big rocks... The thing I had forgotten about these stories was the way each chapter ended. And if the billy goat doesn't sneak into my bedroom and eat all the tin cans that prop up my bed, then I'll tell you the story about when King Kong met the king of the jungle and stole his KitKat...
September 18, 2021
Uncle Wiggily’s Adventures by Howard Garis (A.L. Burt Co. 1912) (Fiction - Children's). These are gentle stories about an elderly gentleman rabbit which will delight the youngest reader. The illustrations are exquisite and are more art than illustration, and the supporting cast is precious. I loved this as a child. My rating: 8/10, finished 1964.
January 19, 2011
My grannie read from this every night that I would sleep-over there. While the details of the stories are lost in the sands of time, even the thought of the name Uncle Wiggily or Nurse Jane warms my heart.
August 25, 2007
My parents used to read Uncle Wiggily to me every night and this wonderful children's series is still one of my favorites.
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August 14, 2008This is not the book I have on Uncle Wiggly but they don't show the one I have.
Read
March 21, 2009A read this over and over as a young child. I loved these characters.
April 9, 2012
This is the first book I remember. My brother read this to me when I was very young.
June 11, 2013
flesch-kincaid reading ease: 88.9
August 11, 2016
Sweet animal stories with simple moral lessons. These are appropriate for even very young children, but they get annoying after a while and you start to wish the volume was a little shorter...
August 14, 2014
Bad hair day? World got you down? It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Uncle Wiggly.
July 28, 2016
Great for reading-aloud to kids...
March 24, 2020
Uncle Wiggily was a Hell of a rabbit.
March 24, 2020
All kids should grow up with these stories
August 15, 2020
Found a box of books from my childhood. Of Course I had to sit down and go through them before packing them away again. Loved each and every one of them.
April 6, 2011
I loved these tales as a kid.
February 7, 2015
Extremely repetitive and formulaic but Eddie loooooooooooooooves these stories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews