Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,215 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Children & Young Adult Reading·Nature/Gardening/Animals
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #3074.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children is a hybrid of story‑book and field guide, created at the request of booksellers who wanted a gentle yet factual introduction to native birds for young readers. Its opening pages explain that the work is meant to “interest the little child” by using narrative to convey “important facts regarding the appearance, habits and characteristics” of the feathered neighbors, and it is illustrated with full‑color plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes that are accurate enough for identification. The first chapter launches the reader into a lively orchard scene where Peter Rabbit meets the newly‑arrived Jenny Wren, whose sharp‑tongued banter quickly turns the encounter into a lesson about migration, plumage, and the practicalities of bird life. The text proceeds through a series of similarly titled chapters, each pairing a whimsical dialogue with a specific species, offering both entertainment and a concise natural‑history sketch.
Written in the early twentieth‑century style of Thornton W. Burgess, the prose blends the gentle cadence of children’s literature with the didactic tone of a naturalist handbook. The narration is lively, peppered with playful exchanges between animal characters, while the descriptive passages retain the precise observational quality typical of the period’s educational books. Readers who enjoy classic nature writing, illustrated field guides, or stories that teach through dialogue will find this volume appealing, especially those who appreciate a nostalgic blend of charm and accurate ornithological detail.
The opening · free to read
This book was written to supply a definite need. Its preparation was undertaken at the urgent request of booksellers and others who have felt the lack of a satisfactory medium of introduction to bird life for little children. As such, and in no sense whatever as a competitor with the many excellent books on this subject, but rather to supplement these, this volume has been written.
Its primary purpose is to interest the little child in, and to make him acquainted with, those feathered friends he is most likely to see. Because there is no method of approach to the child mind equal to the story, this method of conveying information has been adopted. So far as I am aware the book is unique in this respect. In its preparation an earnest effort has been made to present as far as possible the important facts regarding the appearance, habits and characteristics of our feathered neighbors. It is intended to be at once a story book and an authoritative handbook. While it is intended for little children, it is hoped that children of larger growth may find in it much of both interest and helpfulness.
Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, artist and naturalist, has marvelously supplemented such value as may be in the text by his wonderful drawings in full color. They were made especially for this volume and are so accurate, so true to life, that study of them will enable any one to identify the species shown. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Fuertes for his cooperation in the endeavor to make this book of real assistance to the beginner in the study of our native birds.
It is offered to the reader without apologies of any sort. It was written as a labor of love--love for little children and love for the birds. If as a result of it even a few children are led to a keener interest in and better understanding of our feathered friends, its purpose will have been accomplished.
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