The Burgess Animal Book for Children

The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton Burgess is the mammal companion to his beloved Burgess Bird Book: a year of animals, met one chapter at a time, told with the same warmth that has made Burgess a staple of Charlotte Mason nature study. Kindred Thicket is bringing it to you exactly the way we built the Bird Book, with the outdated science and old animal names brought up to date, so you can gather your children and stay present.

There are three ways to use it, two of them free, and it mirrors the Burgess Bird Book in every part.

What it is

A clear, text-on-screen read-aloud of each chapter, with the Charlotte Mason rhythm woven around the reading: a short opening to draw your child in, a moment of telling back, the vocabulary made clear, the reading itself, and narration with the chapter’s animal and people names and places on screen to support her. The reading will be free on YouTube.

Who it is for

Every Charlotte Mason homeschool family reading the Burgess Animal Book, no matter what curriculum you follow. Read a chapter each week across the year, often with several ages gathered together, then watch for the real animal outdoors. One reading serves the whole group, each child narrating in her own way.

What’s free, and what’s in the paid companion

Mirroring the Burgess Bird Book exactly:

What comes in each format	Read-aloud (free)	Bonus set (free)	Companion (paid)
Vocabulary — older or unfamiliar words made clear before you read	✓		✓
Read-aloud — the whole chapter read aloud, with the words on screen	✓
Updated text — outdated science and old animal names brought up to date	✓
Narration support — the chapter’s animal and people names and places on screen	✓		✓
Applied map work — map work in action that leads your child to draw the animal’s range map			✓
Copywork — passages from the reading, three levels, print and cursive			✓
Object study — a guided observation study of the animal			✓
Accuracy notes — an errata of what we corrected, and what today’s naturalists know			✓
Animal cards — a card for every animal, with a photo and its names		✓	✓
Coloring pages — the main animal of each chapter to color		✓	✓

The free animal cards and coloring pages come with the email list. The paid units, copywork, applied map work, and object study, are each available on their own for the whole book, or together with the response and vocabulary sheets in the complete bundle.

Is the science accurate?

Like the Bird Book, the Animal Book is a beautiful book written long ago, and it carries science and animal names that have since moved on. We wrote the Burgess Animal Book Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the outdated science and old animal names of the original, bringing them up to date to match what today’s naturalists know, and the companion includes plain accuracy notes explaining each change. You stay the one who decides.

Coming soon

The Burgess Animal Book is launching now. Join the email list and we will tell you the moment the readings and the free animal cards are ready.

We do the planning. The books come alive. Your child does the learning.