The Adventures of Reddy Fox

The Bedtime Story Books

by Thornton W. Burgess

When little Reddy Fox gets too big for his breeches and steals a plump pet hen in broad daylight, the stage is set for an exciting tale as Farmer Brown's boy pursues Reddy with loaded gun and Bowser the Hound. Fortunately, Reddy has wise Granny Fox on his side and, with some timely help from other woodland friends, manages to avoid an unhappy ending.
As this timeless fable unfolds, children will delight in Reddy's risky antics and the commotion his behavior causes among Johnny Chuck, Drummer the Woodpecker, Peter Rabbit, and the other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Thornton W. Burgess, author of Old Mother West Wind and many other children's classics, was a master at telling a good story that holds a child's attention while instilling an important lesson in the most painless and enjoyable fashion. First published in 1913, The Adventures of Reddy Fox was one of his finest efforts. In this inexpensive Dover edition, newly reset in large, easy-to-read type, it will delight children (and adults) today, just as it did their grandparents.

Genres: Animals, Fiction, Classics, Childrens, Fantasy, Audiobook, Chapter Books

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

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 3 out of 5]

I have made this year (2023) about trying to get control of my TBR by reading books that have been on my list for longer than 5 years. Some have been on my TBR for as long as 10 years. In any case, I have several dozen Thornton Burgess books that were my Bedtime story books as a kid. When I got my first Kindle, I acquired these books out of a sense of nostalgia, but they were mostly free. Now they clutter my Kindle with classic literature that I no longer need. However, before I get rid of them, I have to give them a re-read, and I know that if I ever want them, they will be available, again. These books have many illustrations of the animal characters of Reddy Fox, Bowser the Hound, Johnny Chuck, Granny Fox, Drummer the Woodpecker, Peter Rabbit, and the other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Farmer Brown's son carries around a loaded shotgun, so the messages being sent to the children are a bit muddled. Reading as an adult, I was a little concerned about the precarious nature of Reddy Fox's life. I really felt danger and the possibility of death which Granny Fox was attempting to educate Reddy with. As an educator, I found some of the methodology of repetition, silly names, and poetic insertions adequate strategies to not only teach, but also keep children engaged and entertained. I give this 3 stars because of my sense that some parents in the post-modern milieu may find the theme overly violent although everything really remains PG IMHO. This is my #26 of 50 on my Over 5 Yrs TBR reading goal.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weirdly mean-spirited collection of humorous tales that mostly involve various anthropomorphic animal characters getting tricked into being hurt, or coming to harm through pride or stupidity. I guess they were cautionary -- "Don't be overconfident" "Don't bait dogs" good morals I suppose -- but I didn't particularly enjoy reading them.

[Jordan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thornton W. Burgess is best known as the author of the children's classic books about Peter Rabbit, or Peter Cottontail. He wrote a series of 20 children's books set in Peter Rabbit's forest, and this was the first, originally published in 1913.

Don't let the distant publication year stop you from reading this gem of children's literature. It certainly still deserves to be read!
The book would be great for introducing young readers to longer books. The chapters are each about 3 pages long. I can also see this being an excellent read-aloud. One aspect that kids might find difficult is Burgess' use of Southern accents for some characters. It could prove confusing for beginning readers, who may not read something like "Ah'm gwan home" as "I'm going home."

This is the tale of Reddy Fox, who grows up in the forest in the care of Grandma Fox. Burgess doesn't hesitate to make his main character flawed and even a little... bad. Reddy would probably be cast as the villain if written from any of the other forest animal's points of view. Gentle and lovable Peter Rabbit reveals that Reddy had once tried to eat him, and we see Grandma Fox chase Peter Rabbit and try to kill him.
Reddy is arrogant, boastful, and selfish. He kills another animal for absolutely no reason but to show off how clever he is. He brags endlessly and doesn't seem to have any friends at all, he's annoyed the other woodland creatures so badly.
And yet, there is definitely a flashy likability about him, despite how ridiculous he is.

The book is surprisingly exciting. In many children's books, the sense of danger is often toned down, and the characters don't actually experience life-and-death moments. That is not the case with Thornton Burgess.
Reddy experiences plenty of danger (all of it due to his own foolish bragging and arrogance). He is hunted, shot and injured, must hide from gunmen, and more. Sometimes, it seems impossible that he will get away.

A clever little gem that has a well deserved place in classic children's literature.

[aljouharah · Rating 3 out of 5]

الرواية أو القصص القصيرة تتحدث عن ريدي فوكس، ثعلب صغير يتعلم أصول الثعلبه من جدته الحكيمة.
ريدي ثعلب لعاب، مزعج ويحب المقالب والتظاهر وإثارة إعجاب الآخرين بحركاته الخطرة التي تعود عليه بمواقف لايحسد عليها في الغابة.
أحببت كثيراً أسماء حيوانات الغابة، بها الكثير من الكوميدية العالية xD
في أجزاء من القصه تحمست كثيراً مع ريدي وتمنيت أن يقتل لأنه من نوع الأطفال اللي “نومهم عباده”. خخخخ لكن بطل القصة أبداً لا يموت xD
كتاب ممتع ولطيف، استمعت له صوتياً أثناء الخياطة.

[Jon E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Reddy was really clever and Bowser the Hound and sometimes Granny Fox. My favorite part was when Granny Fox showed Reddy how to run across the bridge without falling.

[Timilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as I remember when Grandma read these to me.

[Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I will be taking toefl test next month and I'm trying to listen to as many free audiobook as possible. I like the experience and I think I'm going to listen to more audiobooks from now on.

This book follows Reddy Fox, the mischievous little fox who was not sly or wise enough as other foxes, because well, he was just a kid. He lives with his grandmother, or Granny Fox as everyone called her. She often scolds him because his fearless, often foolish actions.

I do recommend this book for children, only, please insert some parents supervision for young children. You see, Reddy Fox is supposed to be similar to children in nature, so he is portrayed as childish, reckless kid. Also, he keeps repeating his foolish act. This, of course sounds like what children would act. And while in the end he reaps what he sows, I think repeated actions in story book could be too big of encouragement for mischievous children xD

[Samuel West · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the part when they moved into the tree and when Reddy Fox fooled Bowser the Hound; and when Granny did it.

[The Half-blood Reader]

Don't brag and show off, got it

[sincerely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kids absolutely devoured this

[السّارة · Rating 3 out of 5]

قصة جميلة من أدب الأطفال.

[Tena Mae Holmgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

My 4 year old loved this book. Kept asking for more and more chapters. Nice short chapters to keep a little boy happy

[Amy Ingalls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown up with the Green Meadow and Laughing Brook just down the road from me (yes, the actual ones that feature in the books), I have been slowly working my way through these stories. This one was okay. The moral was don't show off and listen to your grandmother. Why, though, if these take place in Western Massachusetts do the animals have a Southern minstrel dialect?

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to our five year old. He was engaged and the story was well done for children.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reddy Fox is a young fox who lives with his granny. He gets hurt because of his pride and carelessness, but Granny teaches him some useful lessons. My 6-year-old enjoyed this book.

[Ejayen · Rating 3 out of 5]

We wanted Reddy to die. And I like foxes.

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 9 year old son read this book aloud to me. He liked the book and especially thought it was fun reading the different voices of some of the characters.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A "Just me and Caleb" book.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timeless nature stories, May 13, 2017

Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Adventures of Reddy Fox (Kindle Edition)

When I was a child, Thornton W. Burgess was my favorite author and Reddy Fox my favorite Burgess character with Blacky the Crow a close second. Even after I moved on to Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Walter Scott, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Oliver Curwood, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc., Burgess was still my author, the one I discovered on my own at the library. Discovered even though the totalitarian librarian insisted that I needed to read new books, not that old stuff. Burgess is old stuff so far as when it was written, but it consists of timeless nature stories written by a true lover of the outdoors who understood nature and animals. A gifted writer and story teller, Burgess has enthralled generations of readers while gently teaching a love of nature. You could do much worse than rereading Burgess and introducing a child to his stories.

As usual, the free Kindle edition has no illustrations.

[Book Riot · Rating 4 out of 5]

my mother read this book to my brother, sisters and me when we were little. she did such a great job with the animals' voices that I never could get into reading it on my own. I just finished reading this to my class of 3rd graders, who loved it and asked if there were more books like it. And I got a compliment, a couple students told me I was really good at the voices. This was a fun book that captures the basics of each animals' nature and also gives them human qualities. The mix is so well done and it has stood the test of time to become a classic. The author had great talent and an understanding of animals and people and worked to combine them well.

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these as a child and am loving reading them out loud to my son. He's too young to remember that I'm doing this, but it doesn't make the re-reading any less delightful.

As the series title suggests, these are bedtime stories, meant to be read in the last moments before little ones succumb to slumber. Short, sweet, not too too riddled with spoon fed plot, but enough to moralize a little and send you into dreamland. I like them as afternoon nap books.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boys loved this book! I did too. It was a fun read-aloud. We are continuing on with the series.

2022: finished for R’s Kindergarten and the Oder boys had to come back and listen and we all giggled and the boys always insisted we keep reading.

[MIKE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Given this series in my childhood (9 to 12) and read them, which no doubt fueled my interest in reading.

As I still have them, decided to read them again (needless to say much quicker now than the first time around) and found them just as enjoyable as when I was a kid!!!!

[Ashley Kvasnicka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute children's book with good lessons to learn :]

[Ashley Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both kids loved this story. There are a ton of characters, but the main ones are developed and fun to get to know. The lessons were simple, so the kids could see them. But they were not dumbed down or silly. Just great, classic literature, which teaches moral lessons and allows the reader to fall in love with reading.

Kai has been complaining a lot lately. Tonight we mentioned a few desserts, but then decided to go get Slurpees. He complained because he now wanted apple crisp. Well, we were reading this after and Reddy was whining to Granny Fox because she was making him move homes in the middle of the night. Reddy had not stayed inside like Granny told him to and Farmer Brown's boy saw him and discovered where they lived. Luckily Reddy got away, but Granny knew the boy would be back soon and that it was best for them to find a new home ASAP. Yet Reddy complained. I told Kai how this was like the dessert situation- complaining when someone is doing something nice for you. It was ridiculous when Reddy did it. It's ridiculous when he does it, in various situations. He thought about it and let it sink in. He didn't say anything, so I'm not sure what was going on in his head, but I'm hoping that next time he complains about something he can see some of the ridiculousness in it.

We also had a spiritual lesson because of the book. While reading scriptures, we came across the idea of Pride. That's a hard concept for little people, but they totally got it thanks to Reddy. Before the previously mentioned incident, Reddy tries to copy Granny, and trick a dog that is chasing him. She is cautious and wise and has learned many skills in her many years. Reddy thinks he can be as good as her and that he doesn't need to be careful. He doesn't pay attention to what is going on around him and runs right into the same boy with a gun. Luckily, he does get away, but his pride put him in a dangerous situation. The kids can relate to that!

So, yeah. Successful story! There are tons more, focusing on other characters. The kids are excited to read them. Me too!

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sloppily written, but mostly inoffensive children's story in the vein of The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus and Beatrix Potter. Anthropomorphized woodland animals behave in stereotypical ways, and get into scrapes that are presented without any tension whatsoever. Burgess doesn't even try to explain the whys of what happens in his books. When Farmer Brown's Boy has his shotgun pointed directly into Reddy Fox's face from inches away, we are never given a reason for why he was at that den rather than with his hound far away chasing Granny. Neither are we ever given a reason for why he didn't pull the trigger. Instead we see the moment from Granny's eyes and she

...saw the gun of Farmer Brown's boy pointed right at Reddy and she clapped both hands over her eyes to shut out the dreadful sight. Then she waited for the bang of the gun. It didn't come. Then Granny peeped through her fingers. Farmer Brown's boy was still there, but Reddy Fox had disappeared inside the house.

That is all we ever find out about what happened at the door to the fox den. Reddy, who can barely move as a result of being shot earlier in the book, is able to move faster than the reflexes of a boy waiting to kill him and has his gun pointed directly at him. Other scenes make even less sense, like the episode where a starving Reddy is fed by his prey.
Aside from Burgess' inability to think through his scenes, he is also a purveyor of the casual racist stereotypes of his age. To his credit, he does not make his creatures grotesques, but the imagery is there as a kind of shorthand dialectical humor.

[Scott Vout · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid about 100 years ago my mother used to read me. I loved the series, there are 20 or so books in all.

well my mother is now very sick and has lost most of her eye sight and can not read anymore. She was a veracious reader, always had a book on hand. So i decided i would start to read to her and so i went back to our old favourite. The tales of the green forest. She sits and listens and she smiles and sometimes laughs.

Thank your Mr. Brugess for bringing joy to me as a child and now to my mother as she nears her end.

[Ruth York · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story, written for children. A companion story, The Adventures of Mr. Mocker, was a childhood favorite that my mother read to me before I could read on my own. Then it became my first chapter book I read myself. After finding a couple others at a sale last year, I had to buy them. This one follows a naughty fox as, like many young males, he gets in trouble for not listening to his elder. Fun, simple, easy to read story. Maybe one day, I will have grandchildren to read it to.

[Jimyanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thornton W. Burgess wrote a great many short, simple "children's books" about nature and wildlife, imbuing each of the little meadow and forest creatures with an anthropomorphic personality that fits them. These books have much to teach a young reader about the life of animals, as well as some basic, homespun lessons on how to live life. Some of them, unavoidably, are somewhat dated, but others still have a timeless value to them. This book is one of the best of a very good lot.

[Annie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, repetitive story with chapters short enough to hold a couple of wiggly boys' attention at bedtime. Some days we even got through 2, and I don't know how many times I said "we'll find out tomorrow night!" to the cliffhangers.

Naughty Reddy Fox gets himself into trouble with Farmer Brown's boy, Bowser the Hound, and worst of all, Old Granny Fox. But everything turns out all right in the end.