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The Burgess Animal Book Companion Guide (Homeschool Animal Study Resources)

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Have you read The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess? It has been a favorite in our home for years.

This charming nature story follows Peter Rabbit as he learns about mammals and their relatives from Old Mother Nature. Each chapter introduces a new animal, teaching classification, habitats, and fascinating facts through storytelling.

My son loved this book so much that we wanted a way to explore the animals more deeply. Inspired by other Burgess companions, I created this learning guide to provide helpful resources, coloring pages, and audio links for each chapter.

This companion guide was originally created several years ago and has now been fully updated with improved resources, working links, and easier navigation.

This Burgess Animal Book guide supports homeschool families using Ambleside Online, Charlotte Mason methods, or nature-based learning. It can be used as a full mammal unit study or as a companion to daily reading.

This guide makes the book perfect for:

  • Homeschool nature study
  • Charlotte Mason education
  • Animal science units
  • Independent learning
  • Family read-aloud time

Burgess Animal Book for Children Learning Guide

Where to Read or Listen to The Burgess Animal Book for Children

You can access this classic book in several free and affordable ways:

• Free audiobook: LibriVox.org
• Free ebook: Project Gutenberg
• Online reading version: Baldwin Project
• Check your local library
• Purchase a printed copy for your homeschool library

Having a physical copy makes it easier for children to follow along and revisit their favorite animals.

What Kids Learn from The Burgess Animal Book

This book teaches children about:

• Mammal classification
• Animal habitats
• Wildlife behavior
• Nature observation
• Scientific vocabulary

It introduces taxonomy in a gentle and engaging way that builds a strong foundation for biology.

How to Use This Burgess Animal Book Companion Guide

Thornton Burgess’s The Burgess Animal Book for Children is a wonderful introduction to mammals, classification, and nature study through storytelling. This companion guide is designed to help you turn the book into a complete science and nature unit for your homeschool or classroom.

Each chapter section below includes:

• Audio recordings so children can listen along
• Links to real photographs and factual information about each animal
• Printable coloring pages for younger learners
• References from the Handbook of Nature Study for deeper exploration
• Additional educational resources to expand learning

You can use this guide in several ways:

Read-along study:
Listen to one chapter per day or week, then explore the animals listed using the resources provided.

Nature study unit:
Choose one animal from each chapter and spend time learning about its habitat, diet, and classification.

Notebooking or journaling:
Have students draw the animal, write facts they learned, or record new vocabulary words.

Independent learning:
Older students can listen to the audio and explore the links independently as a self-guided science unit.

This flexible guide works well for ages 5–12, but can easily be adapted for older students with more detailed research and classification activities.

Burgess Animal Book Learning Resources

To help you in your lessons, here is a beginner guide: All About Mammals. Here is a Mammal Matching Worksheet. (These links are from Exploring Nature — a great site with many free resources.)

For a detailed taxonomic key and updated classifications, see this helpful reference from Ambleside Online.

Wonder-Weirded Wildlife also has a great set of chapter study resources to go along with the book.

Animal Pictures and Coloring Pages

If you want to make a free coloring book of all the animals, Little School House in the Suburbs has compiled a fantastic resource to go along with this book.

For a book of coloring pages designed for nature study, you may also like the Peterson Field Guide Color-In Book: Mammals. The National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Mammals is another great companion for detailed pictures and information.

You may also like this older collection of links: Afterthoughts blog.

Handbook of Nature Study Bonus

Many chapters below include page references from Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. It’s a huge (900+ page) treasure for nature study families. You can also find it as a free public-domain download: Archive.org edition.

Each Chapter below has links to the following:

  • Librivox audio of the chapter
  • Exploring Nature and eNature sites with more information about the animals covered in the chapter
  • Life-like coloring pages for each of the animals covered in the chapter
  • Pages from the Handbook of Nature Study -The Handbook Of Nature Study , by Anna Botsford Comstock, an amazing book to help in nature studies.  I have found it available as a free download.  It is a huge book- over 900 pages, but it has so much amazing information in it.  You might end up purchasing a hard copy like I did.

Chapter-by-Chapter Links and Resources

Each chapter includes links to audio, animal info, and coloring pages (as available).

Chapter 1: Jenny Wren Gives Peter Rabbit an Idea

Story focus: Peter arranges to go to school with Old Mother Nature.

Chapter 2: Peter and Jumper Go to School

Animals covered: The Cottontail Rabbit, Northern Hare, and Marsh Rabbit.

Chapter 3: More of Peter’s Long-Legged Cousins

Animals covered: Swamp Hare, Arctic Hare, Prairie Hare, Antelope Jack, and Jack Rabbit.

Chapter 4: Chatterer and Happy Jack Join

Animals covered: The Squirrel family and the order of Rodents.

Chapter 5: The Squirrels of the Trees

Animals covered: Red, Gray, Fox, Kaibab, and Abert Squirrels.

Chapter 6: Striped Chipmunk and His Cousins

Animals covered: Chipmunk, Spermophiles (ground squirrels), and Flying Squirrel.

 
Chapter 7: Johnny Chuck Joins the Class

Animals covered: The Woodchuck (Groundhog).

Chapter 8: Whistler and Yap Yap

Animals covered: The Hoary Marmot and Prairie Dog.

Chapter 9: Two Queer Little Haymakers

Animals covered: The Pika (Cony) and Mountain Beaver.

Chapter 10: Prickly Porky and Grubby Gopher

Animals covered: Porcupine and Pocket Gopher.

 
Chapter 11: A Fellow with a Thousand Spears

Animals covered: More about the Porcupine.

Chapter 12: A Lumberman and Engineer

Animals covered: Beaver.

Chapter 13: A Worker and a Robber

Animals covered: Muskrat and Brown (Norway) Rat.

Chapter 14: A Trader and a Handsome Fellow

Animals covered: Cotton Rat, Wood Rat (Pack Rat), and Kangaroo Rat.

Chapter 15: Two Unlike Little Cousins

Animals covered: Deer Mouse and Meadow Mouse (Vole).

 
Chapter 16: Danny’s Northern Cousins and Nimbleheels

Animals covered: Banded and Brown Lemmings, and the Jumping Mouse.

Chapter 17: Three Little Redcoats and Some Others

Animals covered: Pine Mouse, Red-backed Mouse, Rufous Tree Mouse, Rock Mouse, and Beach Mouse.

Chapter 18: Mice with Pockets, and Others

Animals covered: Silky and Spiny Pocket Mice, Grasshopper Mouse, Harvest Mouse, and House Mouse.

Chapter 19: Teeny Weeny and His Cousin

Animals covered: Long-tailed Shrew, Short-tailed Shrew, and Water Shrew.

Chapter 20: Four Busy Little Miners

Animals covered: Common Mole, Hairy-tailed Mole, Oregon Mole, and Star-nosed Mole.

 
Chapter 21: Flitter the Bat and His Family

Animals covered: Red Bat, Little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat, Silver-haired Bat, Hoary Bat, and Big-eared Bat.

Chapter 22: An Independent Family

Animals covered: Striped Skunk, Hog-nosed Skunk, and Spotted Skunk.

Chapter 23: Digger and His Cousin Glutton

Animals covered: Badger and Wolverine.

Chapter 24: Shadow and His Family

Animals covered: Weasels and Black-footed Ferret.

Chapter 25: Two Famous Swimmers

Animals covered: Mink and River Otter.

 
 
Chapter 26: Spite the Marten and Pekan the Fisher

Animals covered: Pine Marten and Fisher.

Chapter 27: Reddy Fox Joins the School

Animals covered: Red Fox, Gray Fox, Kit Fox, Desert Fox, Arctic Fox, and Blue Fox.

Chapter 28: Old Man Coyote and Howler the Wolf

Animals covered: Coyote and Gray Wolf.

Chapter 29: Yowler and His Cousin Tufty

Animals covered: Bobcat and Canada Lynx.

Chapter 30: Some Big and Little Cat Cousins

Animals covered: Cougar (Mountain Lion), Jaguar, Ocelot, and Jaguarundi.

Chapter 31: Bobby Coon Arrives

Animals covered: Raccoon and Ringtail (Civet Cat).

Chapter 32: Buster Bear Nearly Breaks Up School

Animals covered: American Black Bear.

Chapter 33: Buster Bear’s Big Cousins

Animals covered: Grizzly Bear, Brown Bear, and Polar Bear.

Chapter 34: Unc’ Billy and Old Mrs. Possum

Animals covered: Virginia Opossum (North America’s only marsupial).

Chapter 35: Lightfoot, Blacktail, and Forkhorn

Animals covered: White-tailed Deer, Black-tailed Deer, and Mule Deer.

Chapter 36: Bugler, Flathorns and Wanderhoof

Animals covered: Elk (Wapiti), Moose, and Caribou (Reindeer).

Chapter 37: Thunderfoot, Fleetfoot and Longcoat

Animals covered: American Bison (Buffalo), Pronghorn Antelope, and Musk Ox.

Chapter 38: Two Wonderful Mountain Climbers

Animals covered: Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat.

Chapter 39: Piggy and Hardshell

Animals covered: Peccary (Wild Pig) and Armadillo.

Chapter 40: The Mammals of the Sea

Animals covered: Sea Otter, Walrus, Seals, Sea Lions, and Manatee.

A Timeless Nature Study Resource

The Burgess Animal Book for Children remains one of the best introductions to mammals for young learners. With its engaging storytelling and rich animal information, it continues to inspire curiosity and a love for nature. Use this learning guide to bring the animals to life through listening, coloring, and deeper exploration.

You may also enjoy these related animal learning activities:

 

Karyn Tripp is a homeschool mom of four, former teacher, and creator of Teach Beside Me. With a degree in Family and Consumer Science Education and 15+ years of homeschooling experience, she strives to help others teach creatively through hands-on learning.

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