Bowser the Hound

by Thornton W. Burgess

Bowser the Hound, outsmarted so often by Old Man Coyote, is taken advantage of once again when the coyote leads him on a long chase that ends far from the canine's home. But with the help of Blacky the Crow and other friends, Bowser gets even!

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Animals, Fantasy, Classics, Audiobook, Young Adult

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1920

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

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always try to convey in my reviews that reading the current book carries with it, not just the present experience, but the nostalgia of any previous readings. This one was especially nostalgic due to being an audible book and that this was one of the Thornton Burgess books that my father would read to my brother (may he rest in peace) and I while prepping for bed.

Bowser, in most of the Bedtime Stories series is portrayed as a villain opposing the critters of the Green Meadow and Green Forest. Here, in his own book, he gets to play a more heroic role. He gets lost. Blacky the Crow helps him find a family to take care of him temporarily. Then, Blacky continues to play protagonist and antagonist depending on the day.

I love these nature stories and so for me they are classic, published over 100 years ago. They still speak to me and I'm in my 59th year of life. They will probably speak to me until the end.

[Jon E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bowser the Hound was lost in the snow and was so cold until he came to a farm with people and they took care of Bowser the Hound and fed him food and dried him off and warmed him and I think they said that "this dog won't be able to stay here any longer." And Bowser the Hound set off and then Bowser the Hound found a little house or an old shed that wasn't being used and lived in there for a while until Blacky the Crow came along, flying over the trees and he sat down and he was thinking that nobody was in that little shed and he waited for a couple of hours and just before he was about to leave, Bowser the Hound came out and Blacky the Crow hid in the trees in his warm comfy spot and then Bowser the Hound came out of the door and looked up both ways. (Well, before that Old Man Coyote scared him off of a cliff. Back where we were). And Blacky the Crow came down. I think that was right. I'm done.

[Ashish Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a good book. It teaches many morals in a simple way to children. But the book is not that simple. It has many twist.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 6-year-old and I enjoyed this story of a dog that got lost after chasing a fox and getting injured. A crow helped him find people to care for him and then helped him get home again.

[Lizze Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love listening to these on the Canon plus app

[Amateur-Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bowser the Hound. The story is actually not that only focused on Bowser, but it is centered around mainly 3 characters: Bowser himself, Blacky the Crow, & Reddy Fox. The story begins when Bowser had been chasing Old Man coyote until the latter tricked him and lured him far far away from his home. Bowser suddenly then finds himself lost. And because he is not accustomed to living in the wilderness, he struggles going back to home, but he is totally lost. However, out of nowhere, Blacky the Crow shows up. Will Blacky succeed in saving Bowser? Or what? As usual every chapter starts with a title that gives a glimpse to the upcoming events, some of them raise questions, while others answer them, some of them are a suspense, others are a surprise, and some are parallel events of others, but different characters and different sorts of experience for sure. At the beginning of each chapter, Thornton,as usual, provides a wisdom sometimes it is poetic and sometimes it is prosaic. I gave it 4 and a half because the plot is really involving, the settings are expanded, not restricted to the familiar atmospheres the Green Forest, the Green Meadows, Old Pasture and Farmer Brown's Farmland, Thornton skillfully shifts between the perspectives of characters without spoiling the upcoming events, and themes are obviously moralistic, but in an interesting way, but to be honest, the title is misleading. Bowser the Hound, what I would expect as a reader from the story that the protagonist will be recognisably developed, but the character Bowser the dog seems as a minor fixed one from the beginning until the resolution. Yet,.Bowser is the most inanimate character here between the inhabitants of the Green Forest and the human ones, an animate personality was expected at least between him and the animals, but maybe because he is a domesticated dog , so the writer would give comparison between him and other animalistic characters. All in all, it's truly a highly digestive literary instructive and amusing work for cross-over readers.

[Cam Ghent]

I read all of the Thornton W. Burgess books as a kid growing up on a farm with chickens, cattle, pigs, sheep and a dog, and regularly met many of the animals he animates and characterizes so well. Reddy (or Granny) Fox raided our chicken pen several times and we hunted birds, groundhogs, foxes and rabbits. Bowzwer the Hound was one of the favourites, because he was so easily fooled by the coyote and the foxes, and could never even catch Chattered the Red Squirrel. Burgess had a rare talent for making the behaviour of all the wild animals realistic and rational.

I gave the whole set of Burgess books to each of my grandchildren, but the urban environment they are growing up in seems to make them uninterested in the lives of these untamed animals. It is their loss.

[Jimyanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Thornton Burgess series in general is quite an endearing series of children's books, which do a fine job of being readable by young readers and having interesting plots and introducing young people to a variety of animals in a semi-anthropomorphized way. This particular entry, "Bowser The Hound" is not one of the best of the lot, given that the "main character" is a domestic dog rather than a wild animal, although we do get some interesting looks at Blacky The Crow, Reddy Fox, and Old Man Coyote. And it's a still delightful read for a youngster, or for an older person who is willing to be a child again for the hour or so that it would take to read it.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't give Thornton Burgess any less than 5 stars, no matter which book it is. I have many Mother West Wind books (from my grandmother -- they were hers) and I absolutely adore them. Found this copy of Bowser at the thrift shop and thought my nephews would like it. Of course I had to test-read this one to make sure it was acceptable (ha ha). It was delightful. 5 stars for Burgess always. Fun fact, my beloved auntie knew him when she was a little girl, apparently he was a family friend. Makes these books even more precious.

[Bart Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 3rd grade the librarian at the city library saw me looking for a book to read. When she saw I couldn’t find anything she showed me this book. I read it and it changed my life. I continued to read several of the green meadows books but this was always my favorite. Now after over 60 years I decided to read it again and all the wonderful old memories came back. This is my number one recommendation for a young new reader and it’s not bad for an old man.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've been going back and reading some of the Burgess books we missed. We enjoyed it. We just read Old Man Coyote so all the characters in this one were ones we knew. This is the only Burgess book I've read that feels like it has a real ending with all is well for all (even Reddy Fox) so that was nice.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a sucker for a good dog story, I enjoyed it a lot (my copy was a 1927 one) with fun illustrations. Clearly a young child's story, but in the typical Thorton Burgess style, it was fun & brought life lessons in an entertaining way to the reader (and any listeners). Simple & charming.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book, but not all that much about Bowser the Hound. My 4 and 5 year old boys loved it as a read aloud!

[Jesse Thomas Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely lovely children's story. Echoes out from a culture where basic goodness crashes through modernity like a thunderclap.

[Jonathan Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Burgess Books

This is a phrase that brings a smile to my face as often as I hear it. As a young child, I would lose myself for hours in the simple world of the wood and pond inhabited by Little Joe Otter, Buster Bear, Grandfather Frog, and terrorized by Farmer Brown's Boy. I can remember the very shelf, even the exact spot in the little library in Felton, CA where these books were kept. I would return practically every week with a new armload to last me until our next trip to the library. Often I would carry out stories that I read several times before, just so I could once again escape into this imaginary world of furry mischief.

I remember these books well in concept, though the specifics of most of the stories elude me. It was easily fifteen years ago when I began reading them and has been over a decade since I last picked up one of Burguess' stories to read it. That being said, this review is being written as a look back.

These stories are very simple and very fun. Of course, they are children's literature, so that's to be expected, but these stories strike me as especially so. Even still, I can remember some fascinating things I gleaned between the their covers.

For one thing, Burgess did a fantastic job of presenting the ideas of persepective and motivation in simplistic terms. For example, "The Adventures of Danny Field Mouse" would cast Old Man Coyote as a vicious, mean creature wishing to prey on Danny and his friends and family. Yet, pick up instead "The Adventures of Old Man Coyote" and you'll see that when the story is told with him as the protagonist, those pesky field mice are annoying and useful for little more than a snack. After reading both books, you're no more inclined to think of Old Man Coyote as a villian than you are to think of Danny Field Mouse as a pest that should be exterminated. (Note: This is a generic example. I do not recall if Old Man Coyote plays a role in Danny Field Mouse's story or the other way around, but this concept was presented several times. It made an impression on me.)

The only characters consistantly presented as antagonists were Farmer Brown and his boy. This would be one of the only things that I chalk up as odd, or maybe just a little "off" in these books. Humans and their influence on nature are presented as a negative influence on nature and animals - always. It's interesting to note though that while humans are seen as a negative, humanity is lauded and held up as virtuous. All of the animals take on not only human personalities but characteristics, traits, and mannerisms. From a frog with a monocle and an otter with a handkerchief tied to a stick, to a busy-body Jay and a reclusive owl who desires only to be left alone, humanity and it's traits keep cropping up.

Which would be another thing of value I feel that I saw in the Burgess books. These stories are full of social interaction and personality conflicts, even if they are charicatured more often than not. We see over and over again a working out of peace, if not harmony, between conflicting personalities. It may not always be easy to point out a scripture to reinforce the lesson implied, but social harmony is presented and more often than not, resolution is through reconciliation, forgiveness, or a similar method that is not only laudable, but distinctly Christian in action if not motivation.

All in all, the world created by Thornton W. Burgess is imaginative, innocent, fun, and educational. My reccomendation? Grab a handful from your local library, gather a group of kids as an excuse, and lose yourselves in childhood imaginations as you read aloud the stories that have captivated several generations of young readers with the antics of our furry, albiet elusively human, friends.

(Disclaimers: As I said, it has been over a decade since I actually read one of Burgess' books. As such, there may be a specific example that's a little off in this review or something that I would have noticed as an adult that my childhood memories are missing. Also, all of these books say I read them in 1998. While I'm certain I read several of them that year, I'm sure I read some before and after that date as well.)

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars & 5/10 hearts. I am pretty sure this is my favourite of the Burgess books. I may not agree with everything, but’s humorous, interesting, full of great lessons, and it’s probably the longest of them all. I really enjoy it every time I read it. 

A Favourite Quote: “Some foolish folks in Reddy's place would have eaten that dinner and trusted to luck to get out of trouble later. But Reddy was far too wise to do anything of that kind. Doing as Reddy did that night is called exercising self-restraint. Everybody should be able to do it. But it sometimes seems as if very many people cannot do it. Anyway, they don't do it, and because they don't do it they are forever getting into trouble.” 
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘Wouldn't you like to have [Bowser] back here, Reddy?’
“‘Most decidedly no,’ replied Reddy with great promptness. ‘A dog is a nuisance. He isn't of any use in the wide, wide world.’”

[Heather Oakman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute kids book about a dog named Bowser, and his adventures as he gets lost and then found again. The chapters are very short and each one begins with a moral.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. It's about how old man coyote leads Bowser the Hound out of the way and he's lost and it's about how he gets back.

[Nathaniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it. Bowser the Hound chases Old Man Coyote and he gets lost and it's how he gets back.

[Kenyata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute kids book. A parable or I guess more of a fable, life lessons.