Remember the story of Peter Cottontail from your childhood? You have New England author Thornton Waldo Burgess to thank for that lovely memory. QuartoKnows publishing has just reissued all his books so a new generation can enjoy Peter’s tales, as well as those of the other creatures in the forest he created.

Burgess, a devoted naturalist and conservationist, lived and worked his entire life in New England. He believed that instilling a love of the natural world in young people was one of the best ways to inspire conservation in adults. Many of Burgess’s observations of nature were featured in his stories, and his many characters, including Peter Rabbit, Jimmy Skunk, Sammy Jay, Bobby Raccoon, Joe Otter, Grandfather Frog, and others, displayed both animal and human traits recognizable to readers. The Boston Museum of Science awarded Burgess a special gold medal for “leading children down the path to the wide wonderful world of the outdoors.”

These reissued editions introduce a new generation of young readers to Thornton W. Burgess’s irresistible cast of animal friends (in stories told from the animals’ points of view) in his timeless collection of Bedtime Stories. Newly updated with vibrant cover art by Maddie Frost, these pages are filled with the original black-and-white artwork by Harrison Cady from the first edition of the Bedtime Stories collections.

You can find copies of Burgess’s reissued books at the Norwich Bookstore in Norwich, Vermont.