When Old Mr Rat Became an Outcast

A story retold from Mother West Wind "When" Stories, by Thornton W. Burgess

Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965) wrote hundreds of animal stories for children, blending natural history with moral lessons. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. This tale explains why Robber the Brown Rat has no friends — a warning that laziness, stealing and dirt lead to loneliness. It is a fable dressed as natural history, and it asks the child to think about how habits grow and how trust, once lost, is hard to win back.

Band

Yellow · Emerging readers, about 6 to 8

Length

medium · about 534 words in 6 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Mother West Wind "When" 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.