The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum
Thornton W. BURGESS (1874 - 1965)
MP3 CD
(IDB Productions, July 5, 2016)
Lots of adventures, some silly and funny, others serious and dangerous, all told in great style and having lots of important conclusions for young readers – this is what The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum by Thornton W. Burgess is about.The story starts with rumors of the Ol’ Bill Possum being dead – rumors that are believed and circulated by Bill’s biggest enemy, Reddy Fox. However, Unc’ Billy Possum cannot be more alive, so Reddy Fox is in for some bad news. Lots of other events disturb the life of the forest dwellers – almost everyone gets into trouble at least once during the story, the protagonist taking part in more adventures than he has ever wanted to.What keeps Unc’ Billy busy is his plans to have his family from Ol’ Virginny by his side – he seems to be able to pull it all off and Peter Rabbit is already arranging to have a welcome party for the newcomers, but some greedy guys in the forest such as Sammy Jay, Reddy Fox and Shadow the Weasel plan otherwise. They want to ruin the welcome party, stealing all the food that is laid out for the guests and eating it all – whether they will succeed in their endeavor is for the young readers to find out.As usual, this fable by Burgess is more than a story revolving around funny animal characters. Each of the characters has virtues and vices, each of them adds some sort of lesson to the final conclusion of the story. What kids will learn from The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum is how futile selfishness is, how harmful greed and recklessness can be, how important honesty, friendship and forgiveness is – all important moral conclusions presented in a way that is entertaining and very enjoyable for kids of all ages.