The Burgess Bird Book for Children

The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess is one of the best-loved living books for nature study in the Charlotte Mason world: a full year of birds, met one chapter at a time as Peter Rabbit makes his way through the Green Meadows and the Old Orchard. Kindred Thicket reads it aloud for you, clearly and expressively, with the outdated science and old bird names brought up to date. We prepare everything around the reading, so you can gather your children and stay present.

There are three ways to use it. Two are free: the read-aloud videos on YouTube, and the printable bird cards from our email list. The third is the paid companion, built as a set of units you can buy on their own or together.

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 what she remembers from last time, the vocabulary made clear, the reading itself, and narration with the chapter’s bird and people names and places on screen to support her. The words rest on the screen so every child can follow along, even with a baby on a lap. The reading is free on YouTube.

Who it is for

Kindred Thicket seeks to help every Charlotte Mason homeschool family reading the Burgess Bird Book, no matter what Charlotte Mason curriculum you follow. Many families read a chapter each week across the year, often with several ages gathered together, then watch for the real bird outdoors. One reading serves the whole group, each child narrating in her own way.

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

Three ways to use the Burgess Bird Book, two of them free. The paid side is built as units: copywork, applied map work, and object study sell on their own, or come together, with the response and vocabulary sheets, in the complete bundle.

At a glance

What comes in each format	Read-aloud (free)	Bonus set (free)	Companion (paid)
Kindling interest — a short opening that draws your child in	✓
Telling back — your child narrates what she remembers from last time	✓
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Updated text — outdated science and old animal names brought up to date; the notes are in the companion	✓
Narration — your child tells the chapter back	✓
Narration support — the chapter’s bird and people names and places on screen to help her narrate	✓		✓
Closing — the reading comes to a close	✓
Applied map work — map work in action that leads your child to draw a bird range map			✓
Copywork — passages from the reading, three levels, print and cursive			✓
Object study — a guided observation study of the bird			✓
Accuracy notes — an errata of what we corrected, and what today’s naturalists know			✓
Bird cards — a card for every bird, with a photo and its names		✓	✓
Coloring pages — the main bird of each chapter to color		✓	✓

Read-aloud marks appear on screen in the free video; bonus and companion marks are printable pages.

Free: the read-aloud video on YouTube

In the free read-aloud lesson	What it gives you
Kindling interest	A short opening that draws your child into the chapter and wakes her interest
Telling back	Time for your child to narrate what she remembers from last time, gathering up the thread before you go on
Vocabulary	Words that may be unfamiliar to a child today, made clear before you read so nothing blocks the story
Read-aloud	The whole chapter, read aloud in a clear voice, with the words on screen to follow
Updated text	What your child hears is the Burgess Bird Book Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the outdated science and old bird names of the original. The notes explaining each change are in the companion
Narration	An invitation to narrate, your child telling the chapter back in her own words
Narration support	The chapter’s bird and people names and places on screen, so the names are right there as she narrates
Closing	The reading comes to a close

Free: the bird cards, with the email list

In the free bonus materials	What it gives you
Bird cards	A printable card for every bird in the book, over ninety in all, each with the character’s name from the story, the modern common name, the scientific name, and a beautiful photograph, so your child can recognize the real bird out in nature study
Coloring pages	A coloring page for the main bird of each chapter, forty-five in all, to keep little hands busy while you read

Paid: the nature study companions on Gumroad

The companion is a set of units. Take the one you want, or take them all.

In the companion	What it gives you
Applied map work	Map work in action: a guided sheet that leads your child to draw the bird’s own range map, so she sees where it summers, winters, and stays the year round. Your child becomes the mapmaker, the geography growing out of the bird rather than a worksheet
Copywork	Verbatim passages from the reading at three graduated levels, in both print and cursive
Object study	A guided observation study of the bird, drawing your child to look closely and notice for herself, full of the wonder Charlotte Mason hoped nature study would hold
Vocabulary	The same vocabulary from the video, in print, defined plainly, to look over before you read
Narration support	A printed response sheet listing the chapter’s bird and people names and places to support your child as she narrates, so the names are right there
Accuracy notes	A plain, parent-facing errata of what we corrected and what today’s naturalists know, so you decide what to share

Why families choose the units: your child draws the map. The applied map work does not hand your child a finished range map to color. It leads her to draw it herself, summer range, winter range, and the places the bird stays all year, so she ends with a map she made and an understanding of where her bird lives. You will not find this anywhere else, because we build it chapter by chapter, bird by bird.

Is the science accurate?

The Burgess Bird Book is a beautiful book, written long ago, and like most older nature books it carries science and bird names that have since moved on. We wrote the Burgess Bird Book Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the outdated science and old bird names of the original, so what your child hears matches what today’s naturalists know. The free read-aloud carries these corrections. The plain accuracy notes, an errata that explains each change, what the original said and what is known now, come with the companion, so you can see our work and decide what to share. You stay the one who decides.

What it costs and where to get it

The units, copywork, applied map work, and object study, are each available on their own for the whole book, so you can take just the piece your family wants. The complete bundle brings all three together, and adds the response and vocabulary sheets for every chapter, so the whole year is prepared in one place. The read-alouds stay free, and so do the bird cards; the units are there for families who want the prep done.

Questions families ask about the Burgess Bird Book

Is the Burgess Bird Book a good fit for Charlotte Mason nature study? Yes. It is one of the most widely used living books for bird study in Charlotte Mason and AmblesideOnline homes. Each chapter introduces a bird through story, which is just how Mason hoped a child would first meet the natural world, with affection and attention, before any naming or sorting.

The science in the book is old. Is that a problem? We took care of it. We wrote the Burgess Bird Book Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the outdated science and old bird names of the original, bringing them up to date, and the companion includes plain accuracy notes, an errata, telling you what we corrected and what today’s naturalists know. Nothing is quietly changed.

There are several editions of the Burgess Bird Book. Which one do I need? You can read along with any copy you already own. What Kindred Thicket adds is the part that is hard to find anywhere else: a clear read-aloud of the Burgess Bird Book Kindred Thicket Revised Edition, which corrects the outdated science and old bird names of the original, plus accuracy notes that tell you exactly what changed. Everything is digital and based in the United States, so there is nothing to ship and nothing to wait for.

What is the applied map work? It is map work in action. Instead of coloring a finished map, your child draws the bird’s own range map, summer range, winter range, and where it stays all year. She becomes the mapmaker, and the geography grows out of the bird she just met in the reading.

Can I use this with several ages at once? Yes. Everyone watches the same reading, and the narration prompts invite each child to narrate in her own way. The bird cards and coloring pages suit the youngest, while copywork, applied map work, and object study reach up to the older children, so one reading serves the whole gathering.

What if I’m not confident with nature study myself? You do not have to be a naturalist. The reading introduces each bird for you, the bird cards give its names and a real photograph so you can recognize it together out a window or on a walk, and the object study walks your child through exactly what to notice, one step at a time. It makes nature study easy to lead, even if it is new to you, and you learn right alongside your children.

Do I have to prepare anything before the video? No. The hook, the moment to tell back, the vocabulary, and the narration support are already prepared and woven into the reading. You press play and read along together.

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