History Literature / BurgessBedtimeStories

* AnimalTalk

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Johnny Chuck, Jerry Muskrat, Danny Meadow Mouse, Happy Jack Squirrel, Little Joe Otter, Mr. Mocker the Mockingbird, and Lightfoot the Deer are all surprisingly capable fighters for their respective size classes. Even Peter Rabbit has his moments.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Billy Mink was a close friend of Jerry Muskrat in early stories. While his potential as a predator was acknowledged, he didn't attack Jerry. Later on, Billy was described as not being a friend of Jerry at all and tried to prey on him several times.

* UnreliableIllustrator: Many of the illustrations depict certain characters as being more generic-looking than they should be, despite being described as specific species. Prickly Porky in particular got quite a bit of this, with some illustrations making him look more like an Old World porcupine or even a hedgehog. Boomer the Nighthawk was also often drawn as an actual hawk, despite the text almost always stressing that he was not one. There is also the fact that the illustrations tended to depict the characters as HalfDressedCartoonAnimals walking bipedally, even though the stories generally implied that they look and behave more similarly to their real-world counterparts.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The characters were much more anthropomorphized in Burgess's earliest stories, wearing clothes, using human-like gestures, and taking on less of their species' repertoire of natural behaviors. Predators were also often described as bullies rather than actual predators. There were also more scientific inaccuracies in the early stories, such as owls being described as finding it hard to see during the day and female spotted sandpipers taking care of the eggs. Perhaps to make up for this, Burgess often emphasized otherwise where relevant in his later works.

* InformedSpecies: Not in the stories themselves, but many of the illustrations depict certain characters as being more generic-looking than they should be. Prickly Porky in particular got quite a bit of this, with some illustrations making him look more like an Old World porcupine or even a hedgehog. Boomer the Nighthawk was also often drawn as an actual hawk, despite the text almost always stressing that he was not one.

* NuttySquirrel: Happy Jack Squirrel and Chatterer the Red Squirrel. There are other squirrel characters too, though their personalities are less hyper and "nutty".

* EyesNeverLie: Comes up more than once when the true intentions and desires of a character are exposed by someone GenreSavvy looking into their eyes.

* FrogsAndToads: Several notable characters, including Grandfather Frog, Old Mr. Toad, Stickytoes the Tree Toad and Peeper the Hyla.

* ShoutOut: Peter Rabbit's name is an intentional nod to {{Beatrix Potter}}'s character.

* BearsAreBadNews: Buster Bear has both avert this and played it straight depending on the circumstances.

* CowardlyLion Lightfoot the Deer is often thought of as timid but is a highly respectable fighter when forced.

* BearsAreBadNews: Buster Bear has both subverted this and played it straight depending on the circumstances.

* BigBadassBirdOfPrey: King Eagle is the largest of many recurring bird of prey characters.

%% * FragileSpeedster: Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare. Subverted by Lightfoot the Deer, who is often thought of as timid but is a highly respectable fighter when forced.

* FragileSpeedster: Peter Rabbit and Jumper the Hare. Subverted by Lightfoot the Deer, who is often thought of as timid but is a highly respectable fighter when forced.

* RavensAndCrows: Blacky the Crow. Croaker the Raven was also a minor character.

* OwlBeDamned: Hooty the Owl and Whitey the Snowy Owl. Also Spooky the Screech Owl and Saw-Whet the Acadian Owl for smaller animals.

* HumansAreBastards: Not all humans though. More specifically, Hunters Are Bastards.

The '''''Burgess Bedtime Stories''''' (formerly ''Little Stories for Bedtime'') were a series of stories by Thornton W. Burgess that ran as a newspaper column from 1912 to 1960. The stories chronicled the adventures of various animal characters, mostly based on local wildlife found in the author's homeland in Massachusetts, and (especially in later years) had a [[ShownTheirWork strong natural history component]] as well as frequent [[GreenAesop conservationist messages]].

!!This work provides examples of the following tropes:

* InfantImmortality: Brutally subverted, especially in later stories.

* EverythingsWorseWithBears: Buster Bear has both subverted this and played it straight depending on the circumstances.