The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad by Thornton W. Burgess

The Adventures of Old Mr. Toad Reviews

• 
  Noella

  Het verhaal van Old Mister Toad, die in de lente naar de poel gaat om er te zingen, en er dan blijft tot zijn kinderen op een regenachtige dag de wijde wereld in trekken. Mister Toad beleeft nog andere avonturen, onder meer wordt hij door Buster Bear uitgenodigd om samen (mieren) te eten, waardoor de Pad zo hoogmoedig wordt, dat hij al zijn andere vrienden met de nek aankijkt, tot ze hem een lesje leren.
  
  Leuk, maar niet mijn favoriete boekje uit deze reeks.
• 
  Jon E

  I liked when Old Mr Toad and Old Grandfather Frog were getting dressed under a piece of bark. That's the part I liked.
• 
  Katja Labonté

  3 stars & 3/10 hearts. This story tells quite a bit about toads, and deals with pride and judging people without knowing them. It’s a fun, interesting, quick read. 
  
  A Favourite Quote: “...you know to give joy to others is to add to your own joy.”
  A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “From over in the Green Meadows rose the clear lilt of Carol the Meadow Lark, and among the alders just where the Laughing Brook ran into the Smiling Pool a flood of happiness was pouring from the throat of Little Friend the Song Sparrow.”
  A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘Ah don' reckon Brer Toad can sing, but Ah 'lows that perhaps he thinks he can.’”
• 
  Marcia

  This is regarded as a Bedtime Story-Book, written in 1916. I was bored with it. I know it's a classic, but the age group that might enjoy it best would be someone under the age of 5. If you like classics like this one, you may even enjoy it. But it is a very old classic and I would rather be reading a different story.
• 
  Brian

  Not as much excitement or humor as some of the others, but still a good story.
• 
  Rainee Erwin

  Read with my kids, they loved it! Thornton Burgess was a distant relative, and my grandma had me read all his books when I was little, so it's lovely to be coming back to them with my kids.
• 
  ML Gaza

  Perfect easy afternoon read-aloud to the kids!
• 
  Marshall A. Lewis

  Pretty repetitive language, but educational in a fairly fun way about nature and some basic morality.
• 
  Lizze Miller

  Love the Thornton Burgess books. Caleb will listen to these on repeat all day if I let him. (Audio on CanonPlus)
• 
  Jonathan Marshall

  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.)
• 
  Shawn Thrasher

  Thornton Burgess stories are very old-fashioned, simplistic, occasionally pedantic, and sometimes overly preachy. They also instilled in me a love of nature and wildlife, so they have a soft spot in my heart. All books written for children from this timer period, except for E. Nesbit and Lewis Carroll, have those same qualities.
  
  I fuzzily remember reading about Old Mr. Toad as a kid. I certainly did not remember this chapter: Mr. Toad's friends try to teach him a lesson about being puffed up with pride, after he's invited to dine with Buster Bear (who apparently is a forest aristocrat); so they have Buster invite him to another meal, and also invite Mr. Blacksnake, who is a predator one step up the food chain from Mr. Toad. Mr. Toad escapes with his life, having learned a lesson that pride can get you killed by a snake; and also, a lesson that his friends are kind of dicky (afterall, they tried to get him killed). That's a macabre moral; nature, red in tooth and claw indeed.
  
  
• 
  Cindi

  Very enjoyable. This has the flavor of "Wind in the Willows" but with a little less description, and therefore more dialogue. My six year old loved it and gave it five stars. The pictures are fun to look at. We learned a lot about toads as part of the bargain!
  
  Upon starting this book, I read a list of others by this author on the back and was surprised to see "The adventures of Peter Cottontail." It made me wonder when the publication time was as compared to Beatrix Potter. I'd like to do some other research. It looks like Ms. Potter published first but not by too long and then Mr. Burgess and Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows) published in the same year 1908. All of these lovely woodland creatures brought to life simultaneously, it seems, in the minds of some very talented authors and illustrators.
  
  Check out this Wikipedia link to see Burgess' very long list of publications:
  
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...
• 
  Amy Adelseck

  If you are doing any study of toads with your kids this is the book to read. It was so cute and fun. It taught about the habits of toads in a fun creative way. I will never forget some of the things I learned. I didn't pick up this book with that in mind. We were on vacation and all the big kids and dads were gone for the day so I scanned a friends bookshelf looking for a book that would take about 3 hours to read aloud and this was the winner. This would also be a great car read.
• 
  Wt

  Great old story that I used to get read to when I was a child. Now I have my great-aunt's 1918 copy and love the artwork! The tipped in pics are so dynamic, that you would be hard pressed to find better looking art in a children's book from that era!
• 
  Dominick

  I loved Burgess as a kid, but he doesn't stand up terribly well. Episodic and rather trivial adventures serve the dual function of teaching facts about toads (e.g. they shed and eat their skin) and pretty trite morals (e.g. pride is bad). Enjoyable, but slight.
• 
  Mckinley

  There's a series of stories each focusing on a different animal in the forest. This one is (mostly) about a toad. Read the series to get the perspective for different animals. Fun to read aloud for up to 8 years old I think.
• 
  Leah

  This was a great read for my first grader. He read it on my Nook and looked up some of the harder words. The plot line about animals was engaging but also so simple that it was a joy, especially as a parent, to have a break from ninjas, fighting, and new age themes. A classic indeed.
• 
  Amanda Bell

  Read this through 2 years ago with Claire and again now with Garret! Claire & Garret have both loved them. The chapters are the perfect length to read a few a night; the ideas and vocabulary are challenging yet not too complex. We’re going to continue with this series.
• 
  K

  My kids love animal stories! We'll be reading more from this series...
• 
  Nana

  Great books by burgess
• 
  The Book Girl

  cute little story. review to come
• 
  Jessica

  Rhema with my 7 year old daughter for school and I was surprised by how much she enjoyed it!
• 
  Secondjon

  I was read these as a child, fun to read them to my kids.