The Adventures of Reddy Fox by Thornton W. Burgess

The Adventures of Reddy Fox Reviews

• 
  Louie the Mustache Matos

  I have made this year (2023) about trying to get control of my TBR by reading books that have been on my list for longer than 5 years. Some have been on my TBR for as long as 10 years. In any case, I have several dozen Thornton Burgess books that were my Bedtime story books as a kid. When I got my first Kindle, I acquired these books out of a sense of nostalgia, but they were mostly free. Now they clutter my Kindle with classic literature that I no longer need. However, before I get rid of them, I have to give them a re-read, and I know that if I ever want them, they will be available, again. These books have many illustrations of the animal characters of Reddy Fox, Bowser the Hound, Johnny Chuck, Granny Fox, Drummer the Woodpecker, Peter Rabbit, and the other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Farmer Brown's son carries around a loaded shotgun, so the messages being sent to the children are a bit muddled. Reading as an adult, I was a little concerned about the precarious nature of Reddy Fox's life. I really felt danger and the possibility of death which Granny Fox was attempting to educate Reddy with. As an educator, I found some of the methodology of repetition, silly names, and poetic insertions adequate strategies to not only teach, but also keep children engaged and entertained. I give this 3 stars because of my sense that some parents in the post-modern milieu may find the theme overly violent although everything really remains PG IMHO. This is my #26 of 50 on my Over 5 Yrs TBR reading goal.
• 
  Mir

  A weirdly mean-spirited collection of humorous tales that mostly involve various anthropomorphic animal characters getting tricked into being hurt, or coming to harm through pride or stupidity. I guess they were cautionary -- "Don't be overconfident" "Don't bait dogs" good morals I suppose -- but I didn't particularly enjoy reading them.
• 
  aljouharah altheeyb

  الرواية أو القصص القصيرة تتحدث عن ريدي فوكس، ثعلب صغير يتعلم أصول الثعلبه من جدته الحكيمة.
  ريدي ثعلب لعاب، مزعج ويحب المقالب والتظاهر وإثارة إعجاب الآخرين بحركاته الخطرة التي تعود عليه بمواقف لايحسد عليها في الغابة.
  أحببت كثيراً أسماء حيوانات الغابة، بها الكثير من الكوميدية العالية xD
  في أجزاء من القصه تحمست كثيراً مع ريدي وتمنيت أن يقتل لأنه من نوع الأطفال اللي “نومهم عباده”. خخخخ لكن بطل القصة أبداً لا يموت xD
  كتاب ممتع ولطيف، استمعت له صوتياً أثناء الخياطة.
  
• 
  Jon E

  I thought Reddy was really clever and Bowser the Hound and sometimes Granny Fox. My favorite part was when Granny Fox showed Reddy how to run across the bridge without falling.
• 
  Jordan Taylor

  Thornton W. Burgess is best known as the author of the children's classic books about Peter Rabbit, or Peter Cottontail. He wrote a series of 20 children's books set in Peter Rabbit's forest, and this was the first, originally published in 1913.
  
  Don't let the distant publication year stop you from reading this gem of children's literature. It certainly still deserves to be read!
  The book would be great for introducing young readers to longer books. The chapters are each about 3 pages long. I can also see this being an excellent read-aloud. One aspect that kids might find difficult is Burgess' use of Southern accents for some characters. It could prove confusing for beginning readers, who may not read something like "Ah'm gwan home" as "I'm going home."
  
  This is the tale of Reddy Fox, who grows up in the forest in the care of Grandma Fox. Burgess doesn't hesitate to make his main character flawed and even a little... bad. Reddy would probably be cast as the villain if written from any of the other forest animal's points of view. Gentle and lovable Peter Rabbit reveals that Reddy had once tried to eat him, and we see Grandma Fox chase Peter Rabbit and try to kill him.
  Reddy is arrogant, boastful, and selfish. He kills another animal for absolutely no reason but to show off how clever he is. He brags endlessly and doesn't seem to have any friends at all, he's annoyed the other woodland creatures so badly.
  And yet, there is definitely a flashy likability about him, despite how ridiculous he is.
  
  The book is surprisingly exciting. In many children's books, the sense of danger is often toned down, and the characters don't actually experience life-and-death moments. That is not the case with Thornton Burgess.
  Reddy experiences plenty of danger (all of it due to his own foolish bragging and arrogance). He is hunted, shot and injured, must hide from gunmen, and more. Sometimes, it seems impossible that he will get away.
  
  A clever little gem that has a well deserved place in classic children's literature.
• 
  GrapedUp

  So, I will be taking toefl test next month and I'm trying to listen to as many free audiobook as possible. I like the experience and I think I'm going to listen to more audiobooks from now on.
  
  This book follows Reddy Fox, the mischievous little fox who was not sly or wise enough as other foxes, because well, he was just a kid. He lives with his grandmother, or Granny Fox as everyone called her. She often scolds him because his fearless, often foolish actions.
  
  I do recommend this book for children, only, please insert some parents supervision for young children. You see, Reddy Fox is supposed to be similar to children in nature, so he is portrayed as childish, reckless kid. Also, he keeps repeating his foolish act. This, of course sounds like what children would act. And while in the end he reaps what he sows, I think repeated actions in story book could be too big of encouragement for mischievous children xD
• 
  Samuel West

  I really liked the part when they moved into the tree and when Reddy Fox fooled Bowser the Hound; and when Granny did it.
• 
  The Half-blood Reader

  Don't brag and show off, got it
• 
  sincerely

  Kids absolutely devoured this
• 
  Summer

  The boys loved this book! I did too. It was a fun read-aloud. We are continuing on with the series.
  
  2022: finished for R’s Kindergarten and the Oder boys had to come back and listen and we all giggled and the boys always insisted we keep reading.
• 
  سَـارة

  قصة جميلة من أدب الأطفال.
• 
  Tena Mae Holmgren

  Great story
  
  My 4 year old loved this book. Kept asking for more and more chapters. Nice short chapters to keep a little boy happy
• 
  Alyssa Bohon

  Read aloud to our five year old. He was engaged and the story was well done for children.
• 
  Bobbiann Markle

  Reddy Fox is a young fox who lives with his granny. He gets hurt because of his pride and carelessness, but Granny teaches him some useful lessons. My 6-year-old enjoyed this book.
• 
  Ejayen

  We wanted Reddy to die. And I like foxes.
• 
  Charles van Buren

  Timeless nature stories, May 13, 2017
  
  Verified Purchase(What's this?)
  
  This review is from: Adventures of Reddy Fox (Kindle Edition)
  
  When I was a child, Thornton W. Burgess was my favorite author and Reddy Fox my favorite Burgess character with Blacky the Crow a close second. Even after I moved on to Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Walter Scott, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, James Oliver Curwood, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc., Burgess was still my author, the one I discovered on my own at the library. Discovered even though the totalitarian librarian insisted that I needed to read new books, not that old stuff. Burgess is old stuff so far as when it was written, but it consists of timeless nature stories written by a true lover of the outdoors who understood nature and animals. A gifted writer and story teller, Burgess has enthralled generations of readers while gently teaching a love of nature. You could do much worse than rereading Burgess and introducing a child to his stories.
  
  As usual, the free Kindle edition has no illustrations.
• 
  A.K. Klemm

  I loved these as a child and am loving reading them out loud to my son. He's too young to remember that I'm doing this, but it doesn't make the re-reading any less delightful.
  
  As the series title suggests, these are bedtime stories, meant to be read in the last moments before little ones succumb to slumber. Short, sweet, not too too riddled with spoon fed plot, but enough to moralize a little and send you into dreamland. I like them as afternoon nap books.
• 
  Ashley Kvasnicka

  Cute children's book with good lessons to learn :]
• 
  Ashley Jacobson

  Both kids loved this story. There are a ton of characters, but the main ones are developed and fun to get to know. The lessons were simple, so the kids could see them. But they were not dumbed down or silly. Just great, classic literature, which teaches moral lessons and allows the reader to fall in love with reading.
  
  Kai has been complaining a lot lately. Tonight we mentioned a few desserts, but then decided to go get Slurpees. He complained because he now wanted apple crisp. Well, we were reading this after and Reddy was whining to Granny Fox because she was making him move homes in the middle of the night. Reddy had not stayed inside like Granny told him to and Farmer Brown's boy saw him and discovered where they lived. Luckily Reddy got away, but Granny knew the boy would be back soon and that it was best for them to find a new home ASAP. Yet Reddy complained. I told Kai how this was like the dessert situation- complaining when someone is doing something nice for you. It was ridiculous when Reddy did it. It's ridiculous when he does it, in various situations. He thought about it and let it sink in. He didn't say anything, so I'm not sure what was going on in his head, but I'm hoping that next time he complains about something he can see some of the ridiculousness in it.
  
  We also had a spiritual lesson because of the book. While reading scriptures, we came across the idea of Pride. That's a hard concept for little people, but they totally got it thanks to Reddy. Before the previously mentioned incident, Reddy tries to copy Granny, and trick a dog that is chasing him. She is cautious and wise and has learned many skills in her many years. Reddy thinks he can be as good as her and that he doesn't need to be careful. He doesn't pay attention to what is going on around him and runs right into the same boy with a gun. Luckily, he does get away, but his pride put him in a dangerous situation. The kids can relate to that!
  
  So, yeah. Successful story! There are tons more, focusing on other characters. The kids are excited to read them. Me too!
• 
  Alger Smythe-Hopkins

  A sloppily written, but mostly inoffensive children's story in the vein of
  The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus and
  Beatrix Potter. Anthropomorphized woodland animals behave in stereotypical ways, and get into scrapes that are presented without any tension whatsoever. Burgess doesn't even try to explain the whys of what happens in his books. When Farmer Brown's Boy has his shotgun pointed directly into Reddy Fox's face from inches away, we are never given a reason for why he was at that den rather than with his hound far away chasing Granny. Neither are we ever given a reason for why he didn't pull the trigger. Instead we see the moment from Granny's eyes and she

  ...saw the gun of Farmer Brown's boy pointed right at Reddy and she clapped both hands over her eyes to shut out the dreadful sight. Then she waited for the bang of the gun. It didn't come. Then Granny peeped through her fingers. Farmer Brown's boy was still there, but Reddy Fox had disappeared inside the house.

  
  That is all we ever find out about what happened at the door to the fox den. Reddy, who can barely move as a result of being shot earlier in the book, is able to move faster than the reflexes of a boy waiting to kill him and has his gun pointed directly at him. Other scenes make even less sense, like the episode where a starving Reddy is fed by his prey.
  Aside from Burgess' inability to think through his scenes, he is also a purveyor of the casual racist stereotypes of his age. To his credit, he does not make his creatures grotesques, but the imagery is there as a kind of shorthand dialectical humor.
• 
  Ruth Woodman York

  A fun story, written for children. A companion story, The Adventures of Mr. Mocker, was a childhood favorite that my mother read to me before I could read on my own. Then it became my first chapter book I read myself. After finding a couple others at a sale last year, I had to buy them. This one follows a naughty fox as, like many young males, he gets in trouble for not listening to his elder. Fun, simple, easy to read story. Maybe one day, I will have grandchildren to read it to.
• 
  Jimyanni

  Thornton W. Burgess wrote a great many short, simple "children's books" about nature and wildlife, imbuing each of the little meadow and forest creatures with an anthropomorphic personality that fits them. These books have much to teach a young reader about the life of animals, as well as some basic, homespun lessons on how to live life. Some of them, unavoidably, are somewhat dated, but others still have a timeless value to them. This book is one of the best of a very good lot.
• 
  Annie Jackson

  Very sweet, repetitive story with chapters short enough to hold a couple of wiggly boys' attention at bedtime. Some days we even got through 2, and I don't know how many times I said "we'll find out tomorrow night!" to the cliffhangers.
  
  Naughty Reddy Fox gets himself into trouble with Farmer Brown's boy, Bowser the Hound, and worst of all, Old Granny Fox. But everything turns out all right in the end.
• 
  Ruth

  This book is a trip down Memory Lane for me, as they were read aloud to us in country school. These books always have a lesson for the reader. In this book, Reddy has disobeyed Granny Fox, a decision which gets him into a lot of trouble. Granny and the residents of the meadow are able to rescue him. This book is a good read-along, quick and fun.
• 
  Charissa Peters

  Burgess does not disappoint. What bounding rabbit does not go "lipperty-lipperty-lip" and how fun are names like Unc' Billy Possum and Ole Mistah Buzzard? Deftly threaded throughout are simple themes like treating others as you yourself want to be treated and not boasting about your own achievements. My four year old was delighted.
• 
  Boyschool

  Innocent
  
  These are all great books for small children. Perfect for reading a chapter every night at bedtime. And children will learn much about the various animals that live in the green meadows and the green forest.
• 
  Tara

  The primary reason I like this book is my daughters, 7 and 9 at time of reading, loved it. I also love it's timelessness. A child's introduction to nature through the lens of the animals. The relationship of Reddy to his fellow animals is realistic and fantastic all at once.