HappyGrace Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They seem really trite and I don't even think the sentence structure is that great! I am prereading Reddy Fox before attempting it with my 6yo boy, and it doesn't even hold my attention. It just doesn't seem like much actually "happens" and they drag it out. Is it just me? What am I missing? Did your dc like them? What ages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline4kids Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They seem really trite and I don't even think the sentence structure is that great! I am prereading Reddy Fox before attempting it with my 6yo boy, and it doesn't even hold my attention. It just doesn't seem like much actually "happens" and they drag it out. Is it just me? What am I missing? Did your dc like them? What ages? I don't know if I like them so much but my daughter loves them. They have short chapters with continuing story lines that are great for kids just starting out with narration. They are a bit slow for adults, but I think they are perfect for small children, or children who are trying to get the hang of narration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABQmom Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Yes, I yawn big time through his books. One dd liked them when she was younger--just learning to read, but got bored with them as she grew older. My 5 year old likes the Burgess Bird book, but I am having trouble finishing it because I'm not motivated to read it to her. One chapter a day is about all I can stand to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 My husband started reading them to DS when he was around 5. My son loved them so much, my husband even got online to download some that are now out of print. I haven't read them, myself, but I know they were a big hit with DS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savedbygrace Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 My daughter loves them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kindermommy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They have short chapters with continuing story lines that are great for kids just starting out with narration. They are a bit slow for adults, but I think they are perfect for small children, or children who are trying to get the hang of narration. :iagree: I thought they were sort of boring, but I did like that stuff (even simple stuff) happened in each short chapter - a problem and a resolution in a quick amount of time. DD, who is more auditory than DS liked them more, but that is true at our house with ANY book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cin Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I am a MEAN mommy. I didn't like them, but my daughter had to read them AND report to me about them :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The books are *great* if you have trouble falling asleep, and need something to help you doze off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 The books are *great* if you have trouble falling asleep, and need something to help you doze off. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Why do you have to like them??? As long as your dd enjoys reading them, hand them to her and get out of the way. They're classics and not going to pollute her brain or something. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oh, I'm glad it's not just me! Maybe I should try them and see if he likes them though. It's good to hear they're good for beginning narrating. Hmmm-I need to start a S/O thread about that.... OhE-it's not for older dd-it's for younger ds, and he can't read that level quite yet so I can't hand off! Anyway, I was just wondering if other people (parents and kids) are not seeing the attraction to these books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohsmom23 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I don't particularly enjoy the Burgess books either, but my dd LOVES them. She can't wait for me to read her a chapter each day. I'd definitely give them a shot to see what your ds thinks. He'll probably love them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oh mercy, I don't read aloud anything I don't like. Put it aside for him to read later when he's able. I figure read alouds at this ought to shoot way over their heads and stretch them, not be stuff they're going to read for themselves in a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 We loved them here. I know my mom didn't like them because she doesn't care for talking animal stories. My ds was 4 when we read them and he loved them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Aw, we loved them here. I bought the entire series, used, in hard cover because we liked them so much. I read them all to my children from about 4-6 years old. My boys liked them so much, they've read through them all at least twice on their own. I think they're sweet and gentle. yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I liked the Burgess books because they were printed in large print with plenty of white space. There are a LOT of them! My dd loved them and the pictures were sweet. They filled a huge need for one of my dds when she was just learning to read. I never thought of them as anything I wanted to read aloud, but they were terrific for one of my dds. Anne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jg_puppy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 You can find audio versions of some of the books here. http://librivox.org/ Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They can really be hit or miss, but the reason they seem drawn out is b/c they were originally a newspaper column that was added to each week by Thornton Burgess. They were compiled later into book form. There were parts my children have liked about them but it took a while to get into Reddy Fox and about the time it got interesting it was the end of the book. Peter Cottontail was a snoozer totally. We are doing Danny Meadow Mouse now and honestly I could be reading to myself I think. I think it all depends on the child how much they like the books. Some of them are more interesting than others. You could always pre-read another title and see if you like it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devotional Soul Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I don't mind talking animals, but it gets weird for me when animals are wearing human clothes! But now I'm reconsidering them since I need help falling asleep, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 (edited) I prefer the thicker books (seashore, bird book, etc) to the short volumes about a specific animal. Those seem very newspaper columnish to me. My kids like them okay. I loved Uncle Wiggily when I was a kid, but I found them to be a bit strange when I recently reread them -- my kids liked them BUT found one volume in particular to be scary because it had the fox and bear trying to eat the rabbit gentleman in every chapter. To be fair, though, it wasn't the old copy that my mom passed along, it was another one I found at the library. Different volumes seemed to have a different "flavor." They too seem newspaper columnish. The animal books by Clara Dillingham Pearson (available on Google books, Baldwin project, and in print by Yesterday's Classics) are sort of similar but not quite so ... campy, I think. Edited August 18, 2009 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homemama2 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I feel your pain! These books drove me nuts (so did the Boxcar Children) and my kids LOVE them. I think the repetition in the chapters helped them be able to follow along with what was happening. They were great for a young child who hasn't had alot of experience listening to chapter books. My library has almost every book Burgess wrote so I've read TONS. :glare: (I stopped reading Boxcar Children at book 4 and told him that since he's in 2nd grade now, these would be perfect to read on his own! :lol: He's currently reading BOxcar book #5. ;)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 We loved them here!! I used to read them aloud to my kids while they were eating, and we'd laugh ourselves silly over the animals' antics. The books just got us into giggly moods, and then everything even remotely funny would set us off. We had so much fun reading the books that my daughter and I visited Thornton Burgess's home on Cape Cod one summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyfullyblessed Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Well, I just have to say that the Burgess books are not for us right now at all. We began kindergarten last week and my son was bored to pieces with Reddy Fox. He loves books too, but not this particular one. We tried for a few days and finally I just decided that we needed to move to something different. I mean, I was having a hard time enjoying the book also, and I am a big reader. : ) The wording was just a little strange for me and it really wasn't too interesting. But, that is just my personal opinion. I know many people do love them. We switched to listening to Aesop's Fables this week and my son LOVES them! He kept asking for more stories. He also was able to tell me what the characters may have done incorrectly and what they learned. I am putting the Burgess books aside for right now and we may bring them out again when he is older. I am looking at other options right now... Charlotte's Web, James and the Giant Peach, among many others. I think they will hold my son's interest (and mine) much better for the time being. Try the books if you want, then make the decision based on your child's overall reaction to them. Mine was zoning during them, so that was a definite sign each day that this was not the right choice for us. :001_smile: Good luck and have a wonderful day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbaloue Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 My kids, ages 9 & 11, still love them. They beg for me to keep reading. I like them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 Wow-one extreme or the other, seems like! I decided to skip them. He may have loved them, who knows? But I decided I can better spend my time reading him something I'll enjoy too. And he can always easily pick them up to read himself once he's doing chapter books! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeAndTheBoys Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Why do you have to like them??? As long as your dd enjoys reading them, hand them to her and get out of the way. They're classics and not going to pollute her brain or something. :) Similar thought--once DS1 started zooming away on chapter books and I discovered how much GARBAGE there was at the library if we just snatched up books off the "beginning chapter book" shelf--I started to push the Burgess books more. They WERE a good transition for the boys to start listening to chapter books, and they are clean, sweet books for them to fill their heads with--- But I wouldn't enjoy sitting and reading them for my own pleasure--- Betsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilbean05 Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 We read the first chapter of the Adventures of Reddy Fox and it was actually very bad for us. My daughter has a deep sense of trust in adults and morals and it REALLY bothered her that Granny Fox (the caretaker who is supposed to nurture and of all people, the one person Reddy could trust) would trick (re: lie--my daughter pointed it out) to Reddy. She was really really upset that Granny lied to Reddy, just to get him to cross the bridge. She told me there were many other ways that Granny could have helped Reddy, but not lie to him and scare him. Why would the Granny lie and scare him? She was SO upset. So, we don't read them. They don't seem to jive with our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 We love them. We have read almost all of them. The thicker books, Burgess's Bird Book, Animal Book, and Seashore Book are written at a higher reading level. Of all the ones that we have read, Reddy Fox is my least favorite though the children love it. I think of all the ones that we have read, Reddy Fox uses the simpliest sentence structure and it just feels more "babyish." The chapters are very short and the plot just doesn't flow as well as the other books we've read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 My boys have both loved them and so do I. Perhaps they're reminescent for me of the B'rer Rabbit stories, Uncle Wiggley stories, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebra Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 For my dd they were a really good transition to listening to chapter books. I tried to jump into a "real" chapter book after only reading picture books to her, and that didn't work AT ALL. We read one chapter a day at first, and they were easy enough for her to understand and short enough to keep her attention. She LOVED them. Now will listen to any sort of chapter book and I don't have to read them aloud anymore :D!!! They are great books, but they aren't for everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyWifeandMommy Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 They are very short chapters so I don't mind the books. My children love them, the youngest is 4 and the oldest is 9. My son don't care much for them but he likes pictures and not having pictures makes him zone out. I will have to read the chapter two or three times before he finally tells me about it. I do look forward to the day my younger ones are like the older one and can read and then tell me about the chapters. My oldest readthe Boxcar children but I never read or have her read to me. She just tell me about it. I have come to terms that my children will not like the same books as I do, even the children ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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