No thorough study of Chinese child life can be made until the wall of
Chinese exclusiveness is broken down and the homes of the East are
thrown open to the people of the West. Glimpses of that life however,
are available, sufficient in number and character to give a fairly good
idea of what it must be. The playground is by no means always hidden,
least of all when it is the street. The Chinese nurse brings her
Chinese rhymes, stories and games into the foreigner's home for the
amusement of its little ones.
Chinese kindergarten methods and appliances have no superior in their
ingenuity and their ability to interest, as well as instruct. In the
matter of travelling shows and jugglers also, no country is better
supplied, and these are chiefly for the entertainment of the little
ones.
To the careful observer of these different phases it becomes apparent
that the Chinese child is well supplied with methods of exercise and
amusement, also that he has much in common with the children of other
lands. A large collection of toys shows many duplicates of those common
in the West, and from the nursery rhymes of at least two out of the
eighteen provinces it appears that the Chinese nursery is rich in
Mother Goose. As a companion to the "Chinese Mother Goose," this book
seeks to show that the same sunlight fills the homes of both East and
West. If it also leads their far-away mates to look upon the Chinese
Boy and Girl as real little folk, human like themselves, and thus think
more kindly of them, its mission will have been accomplished.