Jerry Muskrat and More Stories
By Thornton W. Burgess
These are online print stories for parents to read to children. There are dozens of animal fiction stories on this site. Beginning at the book cover (left) the list of stories is on the left sidebar of the site. Note that the Peter Rabbit in these stories is not the same as the stories by Beatrix Potter, but they are fun and clever stories. The Muskrat House in our neighborhood reminded me of this set of stories, although I was not fast enough to get a picture of the actual muskrat. There are photos of real animals on this story site.
Muskrat House in Nearby Pond
On the Thornton W. Burgess site, be sure to scroll all the way down the list of stories to find Jerry Muskrat’s winter home story. Jerry Muskrat as prepared for the winter (by building his castle) and is glad he did so. This story is rather like the Ant and the Grasshopper, in a way. Of course, these stories all have morals at the end. This is what Jerry Muskrat says about his castle, with a secret door found by swimming underneath and up into his house:
“Some folks believe just what they see
And think that nothing else can be.
But some folks don’t know all they might –
My door is hidden out of sight.”
If your children or students see animals outside, you might be reminded to check out these online print stories. Teachers could project the stories on a screen to serve as a transition time activity, and students who finish work could sit and read the stories to themselves while everyone else finishes.
I’ll end with a line from one of these stories, Peter Rabbit Learns what Easter [Really] Means (to think of others before yourself):
“Joy and love are in the air
All around us everywhere.”
Isn’t spring wonderful? And I did get three seconds of the muskrat swimming on this very short YouTube!
