I’m a sucker for quaint stories from around the turn of the 20th century, and Uncle Wiggily’s Adventures is one of my favorites. First published in 1912 and written by Howard R. Garis, these stories were originally meant to be small nightly read-alouds for young children.
For the longest time, I assumed Garis was English—the stories feel so English in their tone and setting. But I recently learned he was actually American. I think it’s their whimsical, fairy-tale quality that led me to that assumption; they feel closely related to the work of Beatrix Potter.
I’ve read that Garis wrote over 18,000 stories for children in his lifetime—an almost unbelievable number. He contributed to a newspaper six days a week for more than 36 years. In many ways, he was the inspiration behind this blog when I started it over 15 years ago. I wanted a place I could share the stories I was writing for them.
I recently decided to read Uncle Wiggily's Adventures to my Kindergarten class, having given them a reading challenge to do for Spring. I knew Spring Break might be hard for families to keep up their reading rituals. My students love it when I read aloud to them, as I try very hard to be an engaging reader, so I decided I'd read stories to them and their families, starting with Uncle Wiggily. Enter The Story Garden with Mrs. Sandoz podcast, a place where we can grow our love of reading together.
If you would like to listen to Uncle Wiggily's Adventures and any story I may add in the future, you can find them at this link on The Story Garden with Mrs. Sandoz on Spotify.
Enjoy!
Kristen (aka: Mrs. Sandoz)
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