The Uncle Wiggily Book

The Uncle Wiggily Book: The Rabbit Gentleman’s Adventures by Howard R. Garis, Illustrated by Carl and Mary Hauge

Text Copyright 1955 by Howard R. Garis, Illustrations Copyright 1961 by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc.

Published by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, New York

Condition: Very Good; has some very slight marking on a few pages, and is slightly warped length-wise. Binding is in good condition.

Format: Hardcover

Number of pages: 105

The Uncle Wiggily Book is an oversized, large text format book containing twelve stories about Uncle Wiggily and his neighbors who live in the woods and the farms all around. Some neighbors, like Uncle Wiggily’s muskrat housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, Uncle Butter, the Goat Gentleman, and Baby Bunty, a little rabbit girl, are Uncle Wiggily’s friends. He often helps them out during his many adventures. Sometimes this includes rescuing them from some of his other neighbors, like the Wolf, the Bear, and the sly Weasel who also live in the Wood Land. These are neighbors who would perhaps rather catch a rabbit or a muskrat than make friends with one. 

The Uncle Wiggily stories in this collection, with their delightful illustrations by Carl and Mary Hauge, convey all the charm and old fashioned adventure of the stories in the full-length, less heavily illustrated Uncle Wiggily books by Garis, such as Uncle Wiggily’s Adventures.

I loved this book when I was small, and I enjoyed it immensely when my grandfather read it to me during my visits. We read it so often that I’m sure there are sections of it  he must still have been able to recite from memory, even many years later. The stories are exciting enough to keep children entertained, but also have a comfortable, cozy feeling about them that makes young children feel safe and secure, even in the midst of a dramatic story.