Burgess Bedtime Story Books

Posted on January 3, 2018 by canadianbooklady

These stories have a special place in my heart. One of my favourite teachers, Mrs. Lund (grade three…), used to read them to us once a day if we were good in class. Pleased that I was so interested in the stories, my parents bought me a couple that weren’t available at the school library, just to keep me in the reading habit (And now look at me… I own a bookshop!). I remember my dad handing me one and telling me how he remembered reading them when he was a boy. It was the first time I realised that Dad and I shared an interest in reading material. That forged an aspect of our relationship that was rewarding for us both until the day he died; I read to him each day at the nursing home (often we had other patients hovering to listen in).

So, here I have a set of eighteen of the twenty titles in the Bedtime Story-Book series (Burgess wrote 172 books for children, mostly about animal characters and their habits and habitat). This is a Canadian edition with uniform publication dates of 1943, and all are in dust jackets – an uncommon survival for children’s books of this period. All of the DJs are in VG+ to good condition only, some with lots of chipping, edge-wear, short tears and rubs present (see photos; jackets now in archival mylar to preserve them from further damage). All of the books suffer rubbed cover head and tail edges, but the interiors are clean (one has an inscription, two have the previous owner’s name neatly inked to the top of the ffep). The first signature in each of The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse, and The Adventures of Grandfather Frog are intact but seem a wee bit loose, so need to be handled with care. Overall condition of the set is VG+ to VG- in VG+ to G DJs.

We may have other books in the series available singly, with or without DJs, in this or other editions. I will post photos of them in a second gallery below with their individual prices as they come available.

All the titles begin with “The Adventures of…”. Here’s a list of what is included here without repeating that segment of the titles:
Reddy Fox
(missing Johnny Chuck)
Peter Cottontail
Unc’ Billy Possum
Mr. Mocker
Jerry Muskrat
Danny Meadow Mouse
Grandfather Frog
Chatterer the Red Squirrel
Sammy Jay
Buster Bear
Old Mr. Toad
Prickly Porky
Old Man Coyote
Paddy the Beaver
Poor Mrs. Quack
Bobby Coon
Jimmy Skunk
(missing Bob White)
Ol’ Mr. Buzzard

Burgess, Thornton W. (illustrated by Harrison Caddy). Bedtime Story-Books. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1943. 16 volumes in royal blue cloth over boards with titles, etc. stamped in black to front cover and spine. Illustrated in b&w. Condition described above. SOLD!
Please consider the individual volumes we have available below.