The Adventures of Buster Bear (Dover Children's Thrift Classics)

The Thornton W. Burgess Museum and the Green Briar Nature Center in Sandwich, Massachusetts do an admirable job of promoting hands-on education about nature and conservation to the public at large. But especially to the young.Buster Bear came a little later to the Green Woods than some of the other animals. And it must be said that he caused a certain amount of disruption. He ate more trout than the others. And he was big and fearful. And he was a _little_ bit of a bully to Little Joe Otter. But he could appreciate a joke--even on himself. And he could stand up to Farmer Brown's Boy. Slowly, the other animals came to realize that Buster was much like themselves._The Adventures of Buster the Bear_ (1916) is one of Burgess' later works-- a bit shorter, a bit tighter, a bit more unified. But there is still that characteristic blend of Burgess morality and humor. I am not enough of an expert on Burgess to know whether there was in fact a real bear who wandered into the Massachusetts woods that Burgess loved to inspire him to write about Buster. But I would not be surprised. Burgess certainly knows the behavior of bears.Perhaps a few words of advice should be given on various editions of _Buster_. The Dover Children's Thrift Classics edition is inexpensive, well-bound, and clearly printed. But the illustrations by Thea Kliros are _copies_ of the Harrison Cady originals. The Echo Library and the Putnam Bedtime Story Books are slightly more expensive. But not much more. And they have the Harrison Cady originals. I recommend these two, though I have the Dover as well.Most other editions are cheaply bound. They either have no illustrations at all, or they have artwork that is to be avoided like the plague.

This review applies to the edition published by Dover. Unfortunately all reviews show up under all editions, regardless of publisher.This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it. It has one of the most iconic scenes in Burgess -- Buster Bear getting a pail stuck on his head. However, the prospective buyer should be informed that the illustrations in this Dover edition are NOT by the original illustrator, Harrison Cady. Instead, they are crude redrawings by another artist, Thea Kliros. Although they are better than the illustrations in the Dover titles for which artist Pat Stewart did the crude redrawings, they are not as charming as Cady's work.Some of the other titles in this Dover series of Thornton Burgess books do have original Harrison Cady illustrations.To get real Harrison Cady illustrations of this title, you'll have to buy a used book. There were two sets of original Harrison Cady illustrations for this title:-- Published by Little, Brown, with 6 full-page grayscale illustrations.-- Published by Grosset & Dunlap, with 14 full-page B&W line drawings, including line-drawing versions of all 6 original grayscale illustrations in the Little, Brown edition, plus many smaller line drawings.The redrawings in this Dover edition are of the 6 grayscale Little, Brown illustrations.I recommend the Grosset & Dunlap edition. Cady did them decades after he did the 6 grayscale Little, Brown illustrations, after he had grown as an artist. Even though the Grosset & Dunlap line drawings are simpler than the Little, Brown grayscale illustrations, they are more charming. On the other hand, the Little, Brown grayscale illustrations better show Cady's remarkable vision for Burgess' creatures, so if you can get both, that's ideal. But either one is better than the drawings in this Dover edition.

My young grandkids, ages seven and five, were very eager for their stories from this series. The three year old listened at times but not consistently. Short chapters and infrequent illustrations kept them engaged.

I don't even know what this book is about. I got it as part of a secret santa gift at work. We have a $20 limit, so really, I'm giving myself a 5 star review for putting together another thoughtful, terrific gift for pretty much a total stranger.

I used to read these as a child. Wal-Mart had them two for a dollar back then, along with the Oz books and other classics. Sadly they did not have this one, but thanks to Amazon I was able to read it and the others missing from my childhood collection.This is a simple tale that is about a new resident to the forest: Buster Bear. While not a bad sort his size makes it easy to bully and intimidate the other animals and he immediately gets off on the wrong paw with Little Joe Otter.In typical Burgess style the animals come to an understanding.The books are good for kids but now as an adult I find they are still just as enjoyable. Maybe more so.

Its a well imagined story for an even more imaginative mind of a kid. I write this review only to point out that the print is too thrifty. The line spacing is almost 0. It would be vey difficult for a 7 year old to attentive and enjoy the story. Same goes for all the stories printed under Dover Children's Thrift Classics.

We have really enjoyed these Burgess books on animals. They are great living books which describe the character of the animals and give life lessons and common sense for children (and adults too).

Great book to read with children of all ages.

This was a fantastic find on Amazon as it brings back happy childhood memories 😀 I had the original book with the dark brown, rough cover. For the life of me I can't remember where I got it from or if it was a present for birthday or Christmas, but I know one thing, I read it over and over again and I even named my teddy bear Buster!!

Brilliant stories. Children love them

I purchased for my great nieces as I enjoyed them when I was a child. Wonderful stories that are entertaining, and teach life values too.

All the Thornton W Burgess adventures of series are ESSENTIAL reading for children 8-11Most are written over a hundred years ago by a conservationist from that era with incredible understanding of wildlife for the time

livre anglophone broché souple en papier recyclé format moyen réédition récente (1993) d'un classique de 1916 faisant partie d'une grande série d'histoires animalières pour enfants valorisant la protection de la faune nord-américaine; dans cet épisode, on assiste aux aventures de Buster BEAR l'ours noir au sein de la communauté des animaux de la Forêt Verte; cette fable un peu moraliste mais tellement attendrissante ravira tous les enfants et même les plus grands à l'heure où les préoccupations de protection de la faune sont devenues plus partagées (l'auteur pourrait être considéré comme visionnaire pour l'époque!); les illustrations sont indigentes dans cette édition bon marché (quelques gravures n&b) mais ce petit livre est à acheter sans réserve pour lire ou faire lire à vos enfants ou petits-enfants soit en le traduisant soit directement en anglais dès qu'ils se seront familiarisés avec cette langue!