This page provides links to books, stories, and nonfiction works pertaining to muskrat.

Fiction

"Everybody Lends Jerry Muskrat a Hand" by Thornton Burgess is a story that is in the multi-volume work Best in Children's Books from Doubleday Book Clubs. The de Grummond Children's Literature Collection of the University Libraries at University of Southern Mississippi.

The beloved children’s classic The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat by Thornton W. Burgess is described on The Adventures of Jerry Muskrat from Dover Publications.  Jerry Muskrat also appears in Burgess' children's book, Adventures of Poor Mrs. Quack.  They also offer Jerry Muskrat as one of the characters in easy-to-apply tattoos (see Peter Cottontail Tattoos) and reusable peel-and-apply stickers (See Peter Cottontail Sticker Picture: With 38 Reusable Peel-and-Apply Stickers).  Both products are by Pat Stewart.

Thorton Burgess' Jerry Muskrat is available as in individual juvenile thrift classic book by itself or as part of the slip case set Old Mother West Wind and 6 Other Stories.  See Gift Ideas and Dover Literature from Books for Children, Education, and Homeschooling.

"Jerry Muskrat's Party", Chapter 11 from Old Mother West Wind, is available off of Photos from Discovering Together: Preschool Curriculum, Science/Technology Curriculum, Plymouth Public Schools, Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Jerry Muskrat stories are available on line at Bedtime Stories For Children, By Thornton W. Burgess from 2020site.org.

Muskrat, Muskrat, Eat Your Peas!, by Wilson, is referenced by Youth Dept. Rodent Bibliography at Cedar Falls, IA, Public Library

In Russell Hoban's The Mouse and His Child a "professorial Muskrat" promises to help the mice.  From The Head of Orpheus: a Russell Hoban Reference Page at Ocelot Factory: Dave Awl's Web portal.

Clovis Crawfish and Fédora Field Mouse by Mary Alice Fontenot is described by Christina Masciere on Books: Louisiana Lit:  "When Fédora and family find themselves in a jam, Clovis saves the day, then leads his Cajun woodland pals in a plan to rid the bayou of menacing Madame Rat Musqué. Fontenot’s usual sprinkling of French phrases make this a colorful choice for reading out loud to little ones."  From Louisiana Life.

A similar Earth creation story is on The Legend of Muskrat and Terrapin from Terrapin Station, hosted at Fisheries Service, Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

How Coyote made the different people and how certain animals, including Muskrat, came to look as they do today, credited to Nu-Mee-Poom Tit-Wah-Tit: Nez Perce Legends by Allen Slickpoo, Leroy Seth, and Deward E. Walker, Jr., is related on Coyote and the Monster of Kamiah from Stonee's WebLodge.

Saulteaux Legends: Nanabush and the Muskrat is offered on Books, Computer Software, and Miscellaneous Items from Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre.

"The Artichoke and the Muskrat" from Marie L. McLaughlin's Myths And Legends Of The Sioux.  From The John G. Neihardt Internet Project at Wayne Community Schools, Wayne, Nebraska.  The entire book is available on line with illustrations at Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie L. McLaughlin from The Modern English Collection at the Electronic Text Center of the University of Virginia Library.

Unofficial Moomin Character guide has a picture of the character The Muskrat and names the books in which he appears; maintained by Linda Shippert.  Another picture (it looks like the same one that Linda has) of Tove Jansson's character The Muskrat is on Activity Books from moominshop.com.

Names of muskrats in literature are included in Index of Famous Critters, A through D and Index of Famous Critters, M through R. From Index of Famous Critters from Citizen Lunchbox.

Mose Muskrat was a character in Walt Kelly's comic strip "Pogo".  See Pogo Possum from I Go Pogo.

Muskrat Will Be Swimming by Cheryl Savageau is a quiet tale of a Native American girl who, with gentle guidance from her grandfather, learns to find strength, not fear, in her identity as a Native person living in an Anglo society.  See the descriptions of Muskrat will be Swimming at Muskrat will be swimming from The Internet Public Library. [An alternative Internet Public Library sites is Muskrat will be swimming (South America www.ipl.org.ar).]

A Michael Bishop Bibliography/A Guide to His Work informs us that Bishop and Paul Di Filippo have completed a second novel, Muskrat Courage, featuring the same protagonist of Would It Kill You to Smile?

"The Man and the Muskrat" is a folktale from the Fipa people of Tanzania, Africa.  It is found in African Folktales edit by Roger Abrahams.  References to this tale are on Folktales and Fairytales From Africa & the Middle East from Library Links for Students and Teachers of Sunrise Mountain High School, hosted on Peoria Unified School District - Staff Web Pages (Glendale, Arizona); and LifeLesson Book from For Teachers, Mrs. Garbis' English Page.

Nonfiction

Sticker illustrations and easy-to-read text describe the habits and characteristics of 12 different woodland creatures including the muskrat in Learning About Forest Animals by Jan Sovak. See Learning About Forest Animals from Dover Publications.

Sturdy pre-cut images of a muskrat and other swampland animals can help young nature lovers illustrate school projects and decorate a host of flat surfaces:  Fun with Swampland Animals Stencils by Paul E. Kennedy.  See Fun with Swampland Animals Stencils  from Dover Publications.

Children can color realistic, meticulously rendered accurate drawings of a muskrat, along with many other forms of wildlife and vegetation in Freshwater Pond Coloring Book by Annika Bernhard.  See Freshwater Pond Coloring Book from Dover Publications or see Freshwater Pond Color Book from Reuel's Art & Frame.

Dakota Indians Coloring Book has elaborate black and white drawings, not just outlines, that will appeal to older children to color for historical projects.  A review is given on Review, Children, Dakota Indians Coloring Book, Minnesota Historical Society, from Native American Indian Resources.  Paula Giese, the author of the review, is puzzled by the drawing that is supposed to depict muskrat trapping.

References - The Muskrat is the bibliography for "The Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus)" from The Department of Biology, McMaster University

Wetlands Reading List has several books suggested for pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students, many covering muskrat; from Office of Wetlands, Oceans, & Watersheds, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Muskrat (in MARION) A virtual card from the library catalog of Cerritos College Library, Cerritos College, in Norwalk, California

"Impact of Seismic Activity on Muskrat Populations on the Mackenzie Delta" is a holding of Environmental Research and Teaching, The University of Toronto.

"Muskrat: Manager of the Marsh" by E. Kiviat, is in the October 1994 issue of Hudsonia (Volume 10, number 3), according to News From Hudsonia Index and Conservation Science Publications from Hudsonia -- An Environmental Research Institute for the Hudson Valley.

Muskrat contains a reading list of five books about muskrat.  Also available in French at Le rat musqué.  From Hinterland's Who's Who / La faune de l'arrière-pays, Canadian Wildlife Service - Service canadien de la faune, Environnement Canada.

An abstract of "Changes in Daily Activity Rhythms of Some Free-ranging Animals in Minnesota" by John R. Tester is available from Long Term Ecological Research at Cedar Creek, University of Minnesota.

Department of Zoology from The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, gives a brief description of R. A. MacArthur's studies of northern semiaquatic mammals, principally muskrat and beaver, and includes a list of selected publications by MacArthur.  MacArthur has also a home page, The Laboratory of Robert A. MacArthur.

In The Maine Woods, (and in other works) Henry David Thoreau has several references to muskrat and musquash.  From The Thoreau Reader: The works of Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862 .  Check out these pages: Thoreau's Allegash & East Branch - 4, Thoreau's Allegash & East Branch - 5, Thoreau's Allegash & East Branch - 7, Thoreau's Chesuncook - 2, Walden - Chapter 1-E, Walden - Chapter 10, Thoreau's Ktaadn - 3, Thoreau's Ktaadn - 4, Thoreau's Ktaadn - 6, Thoreau's Walking - 2, and Thoreau's Walking - 3.

The Mysticism of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek contains passages from the work about muskrat.  Home page:  Merovence.

Adirondack Outdoor Company offers several books dealing with trapping muskrat at Books & Videos; follow the alphabetical-by-author links under "Trapping Books by Author". They also have Tom Miranda's video Pro Muskrat Trapping. (See Hunting, Trapping Videos, VHS Movies.)

Russ Carman's Muskrat Trapping Methods is available on Books and Videos from Funke Trap Tags & Supplies.

In William Wood's "Of the Beasts That Live on the Land" from New England's Prospect, 1634, Wood includes "the civet-scented musquash" among creatures "affording not only meat for the belly but clothing for the back."  From ENGL/ENVS 385: American Nature Writing, Spring 2000 by Ann M Woodlief at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.

Some cookbooks are listed on my Recipes page.

My Search page has lists several sites you may want to search on your own for books/articles/stories about muskrats.

Also check out my Pictures page for nonfiction video materials about muskrat.