Why Jimmy Skunk Never Hurries

From Mother West Wind "Why" Stories by Thornton W. Burgess

Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965) wrote hundreds of animal stories for children, mixing gentle humour with lessons about character and nature. This tale, first published in 1915, explains why Jimmy Skunk walks slowly and never runs away. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. Burgess's stories celebrate kindness, independence and thinking for yourself — timeless ideas worth a child's attention today.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 560 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Mother West Wind "Why" Stories, Thornton W. Burgess · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (8 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.