BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY My mother she's so good to me, Ef I was good as I could be, I couldn't be as good--no, sir!-- Can't any boy be good as her. She loves me when I'm glad er sa...
A BOY put his hand into a pitcher full of filberts. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck...
THE HARES harangued the assembly, and argued that all should be equal. The Lions made this reply: "Your words, O Hares! are good; but they lack both claws and teeth such as we have...
A WEASEL, inactive from age and infirmities, was not able to catch mice as he once did. He therefore rolled himself in flour and lay down in a dark corner. A Mouse, supposing him t...
"Good morning, Monday! Tell me how is Tuesday?" "Very well, Dame Wednesday. Please to tell Miss Thursday, Also little Saturday, To call on Mister Sunday."
MERCURY ONCE DETERMINED to learn in what esteem he was held among mortals. For this purpose he assumed the character of a man and visited in this disguise a Sculptor's studio havin...
BY JESSIE WRIGHT WHITCOMB A little girl and a little boy started down the road together to take a walk. They met a dog. "Good morning, Dog," said the little girl. "Bow-wow!" answer...
There was once upon a time a queen to whom God had given no children. Every morning she went into the garden and prayed to God in heaven to bestow on her a son or a daughter. Then...
There was once a merchant who was extremely rich. He had six children--three boys and three girls; and as he was a very sensible man, he spared nothing on their education, but gave...
By Cora Walker Hayes Sometimes when I am tired of play My mother says to me, "Come, daughter, we will call to-day On Great-aunt Lucy Lee." And soon, by mother's side, I skip Along...
BY HARRY M. KIEFFER (ADAPTED) "Old Abe" was the war-eagle of the Eighth Wisconsin Volunteers. Whoever it may have been that first conceived the idea, it was certainly a happy thoug...
BY LUCY FITCH PERKINS Over the hills and far away, There's a beautiful, wonderful place, Where happy babies in gardens play, With mothers dressed all in lace,-- Dressed all in lace...
There lived once a king and queen who had an only daughter, a charming and beautiful girl, dearer to them than anything else in the world. When the princess was twelve years old th...
ONCE upon a time there lived a King and Queen. They had three sons, two of them with their wits about them, but the third a simpleton. Now the King had a deer park in which were qu...
BY H. N. POWERS Willie was a very little child and lived near a mill. One day he saw a big cruel boy come along and throw a little puppy into the mill-pond, and then run away. Will...
What do I see? Baby's knee. Tickily, tickily, tic, tac, tee. One for a penny, two for a pound; Tickily, tickily, round and round.
"MY POOR flowers are quite faded!" said little Ida. "Only yesterday evening they were so pretty, and now all the leaves are drooping. Why do they do that?" she asked of the student...
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM There were once a man and a woman who wished very much to have a little child. Now, these people had a small window in their cottage which looked out into a b...
At dawn the other day, when Bruin came tramping over the bog with a fat pig, Reynard sat up on a stone by the moorside. "Good day, grandsire," said the fox. "What's that so nice th...
THERE was once a pretty, delicate little girl, who was so poor that she had to go barefoot in summer and wear coarse wooden shoes in winter, which made her little instep quite red....
BY THE BROTHERS GRIMM There was once a shoemaker, who, from no fault of his own, had become so poor that at last he had nothing left, but just sufficient leather for one pair of sh...
Perhaps you think that fishes were always fishes, and never lived anywhere except in the water, but if you went to Australia and talked to the black people in the sandy desert in t...
If you live in the country or in a small town, you will not have to go many steps, in summer time, before you find the little plant known as Ribgrass, Plantain, or Whiteman's-foot....
IN the sea, once upon a time, O my Best Beloved, there was a Whale, and he ate fishes. He ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, a...
Once upon a time there lived a king who was always at war with his neighbours, which was very strange, as he was a good and kind man, quite content with his own country, and not wa...
"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts All on a summer's day The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts And with them ran away. The King of Hearts called for the tarts And beat t...
Jim was the son of a cowboy, and lived on the broad plains of Arizona. His father had trained him to lasso a bronco or a young bull with perfect accuracy, and had Jim possessed the...
A Fox, running before the hounds, came across a Wood-cutter felling an oak, and besought him to show him a safe hiding-place. The Wood-cutter advised him to take shelter in his own...
A WILD ASS and a Lion entered into an alliance so that they might capture the beasts of the forest with greater ease. The Lion agreed to assist the Wild Ass with his strength, whil...
Bo Peeper, Nose dreeper, Chin chopper, White lopper, Red rag, And little gap. These lines are said to a very young child, touching successively for each line the eye, nose, chin, t...