The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel

Description

Thornton W. Burgess was a book editor, conservationist and author of children books. Many of the novels in the authors extensive oeuvre, including this short and entertaining fable, combine the author’s love for nature with his storytelling talent, creating charming animal protagonists that relate to each other in ways very similar to humans, young or adult, but also retaining the characteristic features of the species they belong to.

The hero of this story is Chatterer, a tiny red squirrel known everywhere in the Green Forest as a creature looking for trouble all the time. He gets into all sorts of adventures, indeed – he almost gets caught by a weasel, then by a hawk, events that prompt Chatterer to leave the Green Forest to look for a home of his own. He eventually sets up a new home near Farmer Brown’s land, by the Old Stone Wall. However, during his journey there, he is driven by curiosity and recklessness that will only get him into more trouble. He even gets caught by the Farmer’s son who inspects him, plays with him a little, then lets him go free. Everything turns out for the best in the end, and Chatterer becomes wiser, learning that carelessness and dishonesty only gets him into trouble.

The world of the Green Forest and the world outside the forest are populated by animal characters that resemble humans very much, allowing young readers to learn not only about animals, but about humans, too. The story is not only entertaining, but also very educative, like all good fables. It is also an evergreen piece – though the story written in 1915 uses some words that we no longer use or we attribute a different meaning to, The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel is as much enjoyed by children today as it was a hundred years ago.
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