Mother West Wind's Children

by Thornton W. Burgess

Following Mother West Wind, these are more "why" stories that describe animal traits in a fanciful manner. The bear hibernates as punishment for being a mean-spirited glutton, the rabbit has long ears so others will know he's an eavesdropper and a gossip and so on. I think my favorite was the one about why the toad swallows his old coat -it was a little closer to actual nature. Through most of these stories Grandfather Frog is the one who holds knowledge, he will share his stories with eager listeners if given a little respect and a gift of fat green flies to eat. The wind and breezes are personified, and there were a few forest characters I didn't quite recognize (I think this is one of Burgess' earlier works). I haven't read any Burgess in a while, and this doesn't quite live up to what I remember enjoying. But it was still nice and of course an easy distraction to dip in and out of.

Rating: 3/5        156 pages, 1911