This little book has three storylines. In the first two chapters, Peter Rabbit decides he doesn't like his name and is going to go by Peter Cottontail. Which is silly, because it's not that different from his current name. Even sillier is that he puts on airs to seem like someone different, and refuses to answer to his old name. His friends soon use this to play a trick on him, which makes Peter realize it was a mistake and drop the name change.

Then for many chapters Peter, some of the other little animals and Reddy Fox repeatedly pull pranks on each other, some just for laughs, and others to get even with those who had tricked them. Not sure that exactly sends a good message! A big part of this is Reddy trying to catch Peter so his sick Granny Fox can eat a rabbit dinner. Of course he doesn't, because none of the named characters in the books ever do get eaten- although Reddy eats unnamed chickens, mice, etc in other stories. So you know well he's a predator but the banter between him and Peter Rabbit make it seem half in jest. The fox gets frustrated after trying many different methods to catch Peter and finally gets the weasel to help him out, but even though the weasel can fit into Peter's narrow paths among the brambles, he too gets foiled and Peter stays safe. In another part the fox runs into a wasp nest, gets stung and his face swells up. He plasters it with mud and the other animals make fun of him, but then become bold around the fox, seeing that he's hurt. Reddy then tries to pretend he's still disabled after feeling better so he can catch someone, to no avail.

The final part of the book has Peter puzzled at the actions of some of his friends, who are preparing for the winter- squirrels burying nuts, the woodchuck absolutely stuffing his face, and he is astonished when he sees Grandfather Frog bury himself in the mud. He doesn't seem to know anything about how other animals hibernate or migrate to avoid the winter cold. When someone clues him in that his friends the skunk, raccoon and others sleep most of the winter, Peter thinks this is a fine idea and determines to try it himself. Of course it doesn't work, and when the others realize what he's doing, they play another trick on him.

Not quite as engaging as some of the other Burgess I've read, but still a fun little book. I must also reply to danielx below- would like to point out that one of the Burgess books is about Ol' Mistah Buzzard and makes it very clear that he eats carrion. It's explained by the buzzard himself to other characters in the story.

from the Dogear Diary ( )

I liked the Burgess stories that my library had when I was a child, but this one just didn't do much for me or my inner child. And I really can't imagine a modern child being the least bit interested; they're just too old-fashioned. Yes there's some mischief, and even a bit of nature study, but fortunately kids have other choices now. Recommended for scholars and those feeling nostalgic only. ( )

In response to Danielx's review:

There are plenty of examples in Burgess where Reddy and other predators catch and eat prey. Of course, they never catch *named* animals; they only catch faceless, generic ones. But even the named animals are often depicted fleeing in terror from Reddy or another predator, and barely escaping. This happens all the time in Burgess; you cannot read much of Burgess and imagine otherwise. In fact, the first edition of Tommy and the Wishing Stone (1915, Century), has an *illustration* of Reddy sitting down to eat a chicken he has caught and killed. It's on page 188. That illustration might only be in the Century edition, which has twice as many illustrations as the Little, Brown and Grosset & Dunlap editions. But whether or not the other editions have the ilustration, they still have the text it illustrates (but the episode might be in a different Tommy title, as some editions split the single original 1915 Century book into three books).

On a lighter note, one of my favorite illustrations in Burgess is of Old Mr. Toad, startled by the sudden appearance of Mr. Blacksnake and leaping in slapstick terror. The caption is, "But poor Old Mr. Toad didn't say Good Morning."

And yes, we are told in Burgess, quite often, that Unc' Billy Possum, Jimmy Skunk, et. al. often enjoy protein themselves; they are always stealing eggs. There is much discussion in Burgess about how predators must eat other animals, and that it is not wrong for them to do so.

I see that Danialx's review has 5 "Likes". Anyone who shares his views of Burgess cannot possibly have read much of it. ( )

While words like "beloved" and "delightful" characterise the Amazon descriptions, with some apology, here is a more jaundiced view. As in most stories for children, the animals are anthropomorphic, but this 1914 book takes it to extremes. What's more, while herbivory and insectivory are deemed perfectly acceptable, carnivory is apparently bad -- all the animals take delight in seeing Reddy Fox unable to find anything to eat day after day, and when they fool him into getting stung by hornets so badly that his eye swells shut, much hilarity ensues. We're never told that Billy Possum, Bobby Coon, and Jimmy Skunk likely eat animal protein as well, and that Ol' Mistah Buzzard has dietary tastes that are especially dubious. Of course this isn't meant to be a biology schoolbook, but it's too bad we can't let the kiddies know that for animals, specialized diets are lifestyles dictated by anatomy and evolution, not a matters of moral choice. ( )