BY JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY There was a certain maiden of Lydia, Arachne by name, renowned throughout the country for her skill as a weaver. She was as nimble with her fingers as...
And so, Good Night. I'm rather tired. I hardly thought I'd be required To draw a lot of pictures, too, When I arranged to write for you. I found it hard, but did my best; And now I...
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik There was once a little Brownie who lived--where do you think he lived?--In a coal cellar. Now a coal cellar may seem a most curious place to choose to liv...
Dr. John Aiken and Mrs. Anna Letitia Barbauld It was Sunday morning. All the bells were ringing for church, and the streets were filled with people moving in all directions. Here,...
Once, ever and ever so long ago, we didn't have any pink roses. All the roses in the world were white. There weren't any red ones at all, any yellow ones, or any pink ones,--only w...
One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard when--whack!--something hit her upon the head. "Goodness gracious me!" says Henny-penny; "the sky's a-going to fall; I must...
The story is very old, and it may not be true, but this is how they tell it in many countries. The animals had chosen the lion for their King because his looks and his powers seeme...
Once upon a time a king gave a holiday to all the people in one of his cities. The king's gardener thought to himself: "All my friends are having a holiday in the city. I could go...
A certain King took account of his servants and began to reckon what they owed him. And there was brought to him one that owed him nearly _ten million dollars_. But as he had not t...
Of course, there is a time when Jolly Robin is only a nestling. Then one day, after he tumbles out of the apple tree and falls squawking and fluttering to the ground, he takes his...
She has read all the newspapers in the world, and forgotten them again, so clever is she. Gerda was soon obliged to rest again. A big crow hopped on to the snow, just in front of h...
More of good than we can tell; More to buy with, more to sell; More of comfort, less of care; More to eat and more to wear; Happier homes and faces brighter; All our burdens render...
Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are! Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky. When the blazing sun is gone, When he nothing shines upon, Then you...
The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might; He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright-- And this was odd, because it was The middle of the night. T...
One hot summer morning a little Cloud rose out of the sea and floated lightly and happily across the blue sky. Far below lay the earth, brown, dry, and desolate, from drought. The...
William Cullen Bryant Whither, midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of days, Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way? Vainly the...
Harry Burton woke one night and heard a strange noise in his closet. He got out of bed, crossed the floor in his bare feet, and carefully opened the closet door. The noise stopped,...
Many years ago there was an Emperor, who was so excessively fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on them. He cared nothing about his soldiers, nor for the theatre, nor f...
When the green wood laughs with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs with the noise of...
Among these trees lived a nightingale, which sang so deliciously, that even the poor fisherman, who had plenty of other things to do, lay still to listen to it, when he was out at...
Once upon a time, a Tortoise lived in a pond with two Ducks, who were her very good friends. She enjoyed the company of the Ducks, because she could talk with them to her heart's c...
"Oh, Mother, look at that Gray Squirrel!" shouted Billie. "What a beautiful bushy tail he has!" Then, after a pause he added, "Mother, what is its tail for? Why is it so big and fl...
Betty stood at her door, gazing drearily down the long, empty corridor in which the breakfast gong echoed mournfully. All the usual brisk scenes of that hour, groups of girls in Pe...
A brother took his sister by the hand and said, Since our mother is dead we have no more happy hours: our stepmother beats us every day, and whenever we come near her she kicks us...
William Cullen Bryant Thou blossom bright with autumn dew, And colored with the heaven's own blue, That openest when the quiet light Succeeds the keen and frosty night. Thou comest...
And now let us look at Coraltown once more. It is the first day of June of 1865. The sun is low in the West, and lights up the crests of the long lines of breakers that are everywh...
John Brown Four-and-thirty years ago, Bob Ainslie and I were coming up Infirmary Street from the High School, our heads together, and our arms intertwisted, as only lovers and boys...
BY E. D. TOWNSEND (ADAPTED) One day, as the general was sitting at his table in the office, the messenger announced that a person desired to see him a moment in order to present a...
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm One summer's morning a little tailor was sitting on his table by the window; he was in good spirits, and sewed with all his might. Then came a peasant woman...
friend, at the kindly instance of a common friend of both; the narrator had heard it at home from the lips of a father of story-loving children for whom he often invented such litt...