SECTION XII_Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes

HOME READING LIST AND GENERAL INDEX

Home Reading Lists by Grades 679

General Index 687

SECTION I

PREFACE AND GENERAL INTRODUCTION

SELECTED GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. GENERAL COLLECTIONS OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Tappan, Eva March, _The Children's Hour_. 10 vols.

Neilson, William Patten, and others, _The Junior Classics_.

10 vols.

Sylvester, Charles H., _Journeys through Bookland_. 10 vols.

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, and others, _The Young Folks' Library_.

30 vols.

Mabie, Hamilton Wright, _After School Library_. 12 vols.

Scudder, Horace E., _The Children's Book_. [Best single-volume

collection for early grades.]

Barnes, Walter, _Types of Children's Literature_.

II. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

Darton, F. J. Harvey, "Children's Books," in _Cambridge History

of English Literature_, Vol. XI, chap. xvi. [Best brief account

of development in England. Elaborate bibliography.]

Tassin, Algernon, "Books for Children," in _Cambridge History of

American Literature_, Vol. II, chap. vii. [Best account of

American development. Extended bibliography.]

Field, Mrs. E. M., _The Child and His Book_. The history and

progress of children's literature in England. [Stops with

1826.]

Moses, Montrose J., _Children's Books and Reading_. [Deals

with both English and American side. Book-lists and

bibliographies.]

Ashton, John, _Chapbooks of the Eighteenth Century_.

Halsey, Rosalie V., _Forgotten Books of the American Nursery_.

Welsh, Charles, _A Bookseller of the Last Century_. [John

Newbery.]

"Godfrey, Elizabeth," _English Children in the Olden Time_.

Earle, Florence Morse, _Child Life in Colonial Days_.

III. GUIDES IN TEACHING

1. SPECIFIC PEDAGOGY

Barnes, Walter, _English in the Country School_.

Carpenter, G. R., Baker, F. T., and Scott, F. N., _The Teaching

of English_. [Pp. 155-187, "Literature in the Elementary

Schools," by Professor Baker.]

Chubb, Percival, _The Teaching of English_.

Cox, John Harrington, _Literature in the Common School_.

Barron, Julia S., Bacon, Corinne, and Dana, J. C., _Course of

Study for Normal School Pupils on Literature for Children_.

[A syllabus.]

Hosic, James Fleming, _The Elementary Course in English_.

MacClintock, Porter Lander, _Literature in the Elementary

School_.

McMurry, Charles A., _Special Method in Reading in the Grades_.

Welch, John S., _Literature in the School: Aims, Methods, and

Interpretations_.

2. MORE GENERAL AND INSPIRATIONAL

Bates, Arlo, _Talks on the Teaching of Literature_.

Bennett, Arnold, _Literary Taste and How to Form It_.

Colby, J. Rose, _Literature and Life in School_.

Kerfoot, J. B., _How to Read_.

Lee, Gerald Stanley, _The Child and the Book_.

Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur, _On the Art of Reading_. [Children's

Literature.]

Scudder, Horace E., _Literature in the Schools_.

Smith, C. Alphonso, _What Can Literature Do for Me?_

Woodberry, George E., _The Appreciation of Literature_. _The

Heart of Man._

3. GUIDES TO BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

Arnold, Gertrude W., _A Mother's List of Books for Children_.

Field, Walter Taylor, _Fingerposts to Children's Reading_.

Hunt, Clara W., _What Shall We Read to the Children?_

Lowe, Orton, _Literature for Children_.

Macy, John, _A Child's Guide to Reading_.

Moore, Annie Carroll, _Roads to Childhood_.

Olcott, Frances Jenkins, _The Children's Reading_.

_One Thousand Good Books for Children._ [Classified and graded

list prepared by National Congress of Mothers' Literature

Committee, Alice M. Jordan, Chairman. Issued by U. S. Bureau

of Education, Washington, D. C., as Home Education Circular

No. 1.]

Stevens, David Harrison, _The Home Guide to Good Reading_.

IV. BOOKS ON STORY-TELLING

Allison, S. B., and Perdue, H. A., _The Story in Primary

Education_.

Bailey, Carolyn Sherman, _For the Story-Teller_.

Bryant, Sarah Cone, _How to Tell Stories to Children_. _Stories

to Tell to Children._ [Introduction.]

Cather, Katherine D., _Educating by Story-Telling_.

Cowles, Julia D., _The Art of Story-Telling_.

Cross, Allen, and Statler, Nellie M., _Story-Telling for Upper

Grades_.

Forbush, William B., _Manual of Stories_.

Horne, H. H., _Story-Telling, Questioning, and Studying_.

Keyes, Angela M., _Stories and Story-Telling_.

Kready, Laura F., _A Study of Fairy Tales_. [Chap. iii, "The

Telling of Fairy Tales."]

Lindsay, Maud, _The Story-Teller for Little Children_.

Lyman, Edna, _Story Telling: What to Tell and How to Tell It_.

McMurry, Charles A., _Special Method in Reading in the Grades_.

Moore, Annie C., Article "Story-Telling," _Cyclopedia of

Education_. [Ed. Monroe.]

Partridge, Emelyn N., and George E., _Story-Telling in the School

and Home_.

Shedlock, Marie L., _The Art of the Story-Teller_.

St. John, Edward Porter, _Stories and Story-Telling in Moral and

Religious Education_.

Wiltse, Sara E., _The Place of the Story in Early Education_.

Wyche, Richard Thomas, _Some Great Stories and How to Tell Them_.

V. ON DRAMATIZATION

Briggs, T. H., and Coffman, L. D., _Reading in Public Schools_.

[Chap. x, "Dramatic Reading," and chap. xxiii, "Dramatics."]

Curtis, Elnora W., _The Dramatic Instinct in Education_.

Finlay-Johnson, Harriet, _The Dramatic Method of Teaching_.

Gesell, Arnold L., and Beatrice C., _The Normal Child and Primary

Education_. [Chapter on "Dramatic Expression."]

Herts, Alice M., _The Children's Educational Theatre_.

Nixon, Lillian E., _Fairy Tales a Child Can Read and Act_.

VI. THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN

Moulton, Richard Green, _A Short Introduction to the Literature

of the Bible_.

The simplest and best discussion for teachers

of the Bible as literature. The books that

follow are good sources for story material from

the Bible.

Baldwin, James, _Old Stories from the East_.

Hodges, George, _The Garden of Eden_. _The Castle of Zion._ _When

the King Came._

Houghton, Louise Seymour, _Telling Bible Stories_.

Moulton, Richard Green, _Bible Stories: Old Testament_. _Bible

Stories: New Testament._ [Two volumes of _The Modern Reader's

Bible for Children_. The only variations from the text are by

omissions.]

Olcott, Frances Jenkins, _Bible Stories to Read and Tell_.

Smith, Nora Archibald, _Old, Old Tales from the Old, Old Book_.

Stewart, Mary, "_Tell Me a True Story_."

VII. SOME INTERPRETATIONS OF CHILDHOOD

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, _The Story of a Bad Boy_.

Du Bois, Patterson, _Beckonings from Little Hands_.

Gilson, Roy Rolfe, _In the Morning Glow_.

Grahame, Kenneth, _Dream Days_. _The Golden Age_.

Howells, William Dean, _A Boy's Town_.

Kelly, Myra, _Little Citizens_.

Larcom, Lucy, _A New England Girlhood_.

Loti, Pierre, _The Story of a Child_.

Martin, George Madden, _Emmy Lou, Her Book and Heart_.

Masters, Edgar Lee, _Mitch Miller_.

Pater, Walter, _The Child in the House_.

Shute, Henry A., _The Real Diary of a Real Boy_.

Smith, William Hawley, _The Evolution of Dodd_.

Stuart, Ruth McEnery, _Sonny_.

Walpole, Hugh, _Jeremy_.

Warner, Charles Dudley, _On Being a Boy_.

White, William Allen, _The Court of Boyville_.

VIII. SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

Addams, Jane, _Youth and Our City Streets_.

Adler, Felix, _The Moral Instruction of Children_.

Antin, Mary, _The Promised Land_.

Cabot, Ella Lyman, _The Seven Ages of Childhood_.

Dawson, George E., _The Child and His Religion_.

Engleman, J. O., _Moral Education_.

Griggs, Edward Howard, _Moral Education_.

Hall, G. Stanley, _Youth_.

Henderson, C. Hanford, _Education and the Larger Life_.

Hoyt, Franklin Chase, _Quicksands of Youth_.

Oppenheim, Nathan, _The Development of the Child_.

Puffer, J. Adams, _The Boy and His Gang_.

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

SECTION I. PREFACE AND GENERAL INTRODUCTION

THE PREFACE

This book is primarily a handbook for teachers in the grades and for

students preparing to teach in the grades. Although it does not ignore

problems of grading and presentation, the chief purpose is to acquaint

teachers and prospective teachers with standard literature of the

various kinds suitable for use in the classroom and to give them

information regarding books and authors to aid them in directing the

selection of books by and for children.

In discussing the early training of children in literature with large

classes of young people preparing for teaching in the grades, the

compilers found themselves face to face with two difficulties. In the

first place, only a limited number of these prospective teachers were in

any real sense acquainted with what may be called the basic traditional

material. Rhymes, fables, myths, stories were so vaguely and

indistinctly held in mind that they were practically of no great value.

It was therefore not possible to assume much real acquaintance with the

material needed for use with children, and the securing of such an

acquaintance seemed the first essential. After all is said, a discussion

of ways and means must follow such a mastery of basic material.

In the second place, there was the difficulty of finding in any compact

form a body of material sufficient in extent and wide enough in its

range to serve as a satisfactory basis for such a course. No doubt the

ideal way would be to send the student to the many authoritative volumes

covering the various fields dealt with in this collection. But with

large classes and a limited amount of time such a plan was hardly

practicable. The young teacher cannot be much of a specialist in any of

the various fields of knowledge with the elements of which he is

expected to acquaint children. The principles of economy demand that the

brief courses which specifically prepare for teaching should be such as

will make the work in the schoolroom most helpful and least wasteful

from the very beginning. Hence this attempt to collect in one volume

what may somewhat roughly be spoken of as material for a minimum basic

course in Children's Literature.

The important thing about this book, then, is the actual literary

material included in it. The notes and suggestions scattered throughout

are aimed to direct attention to this material either in the way of

pointing out the sources of it, or helping in the understanding and

appreciation of it, or suggesting some ways of presenting it most

effectively to children.

In the case of folk material, an effort has been made to present

reliable versions of the stories used. Many of the folk stories, for

instance, appear in dozens of collections and in dozens of forms,

according to the artistic or pedagogic biases of the various compilers.

As a rule the most accessible stories are found in versions written

down to the supposed needs of children, and intended to be read by the

children themselves. Even if we grant the teacher the right to make

extensive modifications, it is still reasonable to insist that some

correct traditional form be used as the starting point. Such a plan

insures a mastery of one's material. The sources of the versions used in

this text are pointed out in order that teachers who wish to do so may

extend their acquaintance to other folk material by referring to the

various collections mentioned.

Such a book as this must necessarily be selective. No doubt omissions

will be noted of poems or stories that many teachers deem indispensable.

Others will find selections included that to their minds are

questionable. The editors can only plead in extenuation that they have

included what they have found by experience to offer a sound basis for

discussing with training classes the nature of this basic material and

the form in which it should be presented to children. To accomplish

these ends it has sometimes seemed well to give parallel versions, and

occasionally to give a version that will necessitate the discussion of

such subjects as the use of dialect, the inclusion of items of terror or

horror, and the soundness of the ethical appeal. These various problems

are indicated in the notes accompanying individual selections.

The editorial apparatus does not constitute a treatise on literary

criticism, or a manual of mythology or folklore, or a "pedagogy" of

children's literature as such, or anything like an exhaustive

bibliography of the fields of study touched upon. It aims at the very

modest purpose of immediate and practical utility. It hopes to fill a

place as a sort of first aid for the inexperienced teacher, and as soon

as the teacher gets some real grasp of the elements of the problem this

book must yield to the more elaborate and well-knit discussions of

specialists in the various subjects treated. The bibliographical

references throughout are intended to offer help in this forward step.

These bibliographies are, in all cases, frankly selective. As a rule

most of the books mentioned are books now in print. In the

bibliographies connected with the sections of traditional material some

of the more important works in the field of scholarship are named in

each case for the benefit of those who may be working where such books

are available in institutional or public libraries. Titles of books are

printed in italics, while titles of poems, separate stories, and

selections are printed in roman type inclosed in quotation marks.

The grouping of material is in no sense a hard and fast one. Those who

work in literary fields understand the pitfalls that beset one who

attempts such a classification. Only a general grouping under headings

used in the ordinary popular sense has been made. Fine distinctions are

beside the mark in such a book as this. Popular literature was not made

for classification, but for higher purposes, and anything that draws

attention from the pleasure-giving and spirit-invigorating qualities of

the literature itself should be avoided. Hence, the classifications

adopted are as simple and unobtrusive as possible.

Finally, the editors make no pretense to original scholarship. They have

not attempted to extend the limits of human knowledge, but to point out

pleasant paths leading to the limitless domains of literature. They have

tried to reflect accurately the best practices and theories, or to point

out how teachers may get at the best. Their obligations to others are

too extended to be noted in a preface, but will be apparent on every

page of the text. Their most important lessons have come from the

reactions secured from hundreds of teachers who have been under their

tuition.

used.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1. LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN

_The beginnings._ During the eighteenth century the peoples of Europe

and America turned their attention in a remarkable way to a

consideration of the worth and rights of the individual. In America this

so-called democratic movement culminated in the Declaration of

Independence in 1776. The most dramatic manifestation of the movement in

Europe was the French Revolution of 1789, but every country of Europe

was thrilled and changed by the new thought. Every important democratic

movement leads to an awakened interest in the welfare of children, for

they are among the weak and helpless. This great movement of the

eighteenth century brought such a remarkable change of thought regarding

children as to mark the beginning of a new kind of literature, known as

literature for children.

Today we think of Andersen, Stevenson, Mrs. Ewing, and scores of others

as writers of literature for children. Such writers did not exist before

the democratic movement of the eighteenth century. It is true that a few

short books and articles had been written for children as early as the

fifteenth century, but they were written to teach children to be

obedient and respectful to parents and masters or to instruct them in

the customs of the church--they were not written primarily to entertain

children and give them pleasure. Within the last century and a half,

too, many authors have collected and retold for children innumerable

traditional stories from all parts of the earth--traditional fairy

stories, romantic stories of the Middle Ages, legends, and myths.

_The child's inheritance._ As has been indicated, children's literature

is of two kinds: first, the traditional kind that grew up among the folk

of long ago in the forms of rhyme, myth, fairy tale, fable, legend, and

romantic hero story; and, second, the kind that has been produced in

modern times by individual authors. The first, the traditional kind, was

produced by early civilization and by the childlike peasantry of long

ago. The best of the stories produced by the childhood of the race have

been bequeathed to the children of today, and to deprive children of the

pleasure they would get from this inheritance of folklore seems as

unjust as to deprive them of traditional games, which also help to make

the first years of a person's life, the period of childhood, the period

of imaginative play. The second kind of children's literature, that

produced in modern times by individual authors, has likewise been

bequeathed to children. Some of it is so new that its worth has not been

determined, but some of it has passed the test of the classics. The best

of both kinds is as priceless as is the classical literature for adults.

The world would not sell Shakespeare; yet one may well doubt that

Shakespeare is worth as much to humanity as is Mother Goose. To evaluate

truly the worth of such classics is impossible; but we may be assured

that the child who has learned to appreciate the pleasures and the

beauties of Mother Goose is the one most likely to appreciate the

pleasures and the beauties of Shakespeare when the proper time comes.

The true purpose of education is to bring the child into his

inheritance. For many years educators have talked about the use of

literature _in_ the grades as one means of accomplishing this purpose.

The results of attempts to teach literature in the grades have sometimes

been disappointing because often the literature used has not been _for_

the grades; that is, it has not been children's literature. In other

cases the attempts have failed because the literature has not been

presented as literature--it has, for example, been presented as reading

lessons or composition assignments. Students preparing to teach in the

grades have been studying textbooks from which literature for children

has been excluded, regardless of its artistic worth. Consequently many

teachers have not been prepared to teach literature in the grades. Often

they have assumed that the reading lesson would develop in the pupil an

appreciation of good literature, not realizing that the reading lesson

may cause pupils to dislike literature, especially poetry, unless it is

supplemented by appropriate work in children's literature. If the

student reads thoughtfully the literary selections in the following

sections of this book, he probably will realize that children's

literature is also literature for adults, and that it is not only the

child's inheritance, but also the inheritance of humanity.

The fact that literature for children is likely to have a strong

interest for adults is strikingly suggested in a few sentences in John

Macy's _A Child's Guide to Reading_:

When "juveniles" are really good, parents read

them after children have gone to bed. I do not

know whether _Tom Brown at Rugby_ is catalogued

by the careful librarian as a book for boys,

but I am sure it is a book for men. I dare say

that a good many pairs of eyes that have passed

over the pages of Mr. John T. Trowbridge and

Elijah Kellogg and Louisa M. Alcott have been

old enough to wear spectacles. And if Mrs. Kate

Douglas Wiggin ever thought that in _Timothy's

Quest_ and _Rebecca_ she was writing books

especially for the young, adult readers have

long since claimed her for their own. I have

enjoyed Mr. A. S. Pier's tales of the boys at

St. Timothy's, though he planned them for

younger readers. We are told on good authority

that _St. Nicholas_ and _The Youth's Companion_

appear in households where there are no

children, and they give a considerable portion

of their space to serial stories written for

young people. Between good "juveniles" and good

books for grown persons there is not much

essential difference.

2. LITERATURE IN THE GRADES

_Reading and literature distinguished._ A country school-teacher once

abruptly stopped the routine of daily work and, standing beside her

desk, told the story of the maid who counted her chickens before they

were hatched. One of her pupils, who is now a man, remembers vividly how

the incident impressed him. Although he was in the second grade, that

was the first time he had known a teacher to stop regular school work to

tell a story. Immediately the teacher was transformed. She had been

merely a teacher, one of those respected, awe-inspiring creatures whose

business it is to make the school mill go; but the magic of her story

established the relation of friendship between teacher and pupil. She

was no longer merely a teacher. If the story had been read as a part of

the reading lesson, it would not have impressed the pupil greatly. It

was impressive because it was presented as literature.

A clear distinction should be made between reading and literature,

especially in the primary grades. In the work of the reading course the

pupil should take the lead, being guided by the teacher. If the pupil is

to progress, he must master the mechanics of reading--he must learn to

pronounce printed words and to get the meaning of printed sentences and

paragraphs. The course in reading requires patient work on the part of

the pupil, just as the course in arithmetic does, and the chief pleasure

that the primary pupil can derive from the work is a consciousness of

enlarged power and of success in accomplishing what is undertaken.

In the work with literature, however, the teacher should take the lead.

She should open to the pupils the magic treasure house of the world's

best story and song. The literature period of the day should be the

pupil's imaginative play period, bringing relief from the tension of

tired nerves. The teacher who makes the study of literature a mechanical

grind instead of a joyous exercise of imagination misses at least two of

her greatest opportunities as a teacher. First, by failing to cultivate

in her pupils an appreciation of good literature, she misses an

opportunity to make the lives of her pupils brighter and happier.

Second, by failing to realize that the person with a story and a song is

everybody's friend, she misses an opportunity to win the friendship,

admiration, and love of her pupils. The inexperienced teacher who is

well-nigh distracted in her efforts to guide forty restless, disorderly

pupils through the program of a day's work might charm half her troubles

away by the magic of a simple story or by the music and imagery of a

juvenile poem. Her story or poem would do more than remove the cause of

disorder by giving the pupils relaxation from nerve-straining work: it

would help to establish that first essential to all true success in

teaching--a relation of friendship between pupils and teacher.

_Culture through literature._ He was a wise educator who said, "The boy

who has access to good books and who has learned to make them his close

friends is beyond the power of evil." Literature in the grades, in

addition to furnishing intellectual recreation, should so cultivate in

the pupil the power of literary appreciation that he will make good

books his close friends. The child who has heard good music from infancy

is not likely to be attracted by popular ragtime. The boy who has been

trained in habits of courtesy, industry, and pure thinking in his home

life, and school life is not likely to find pleasure in the rudeness,

idleness, and vulgarity of the village poolroom. The pupil who is taught

to appreciate the beautiful, the true, and the good in standard

literature is not likely to find pleasure in reading the melodramatic

and sentimental trash that now has prominence of place and space in many

book stores and in some public libraries. It is the duty of the teacher,

and it should be her pleasure, to cultivate in her pupils such a taste

for good literature as will lead them to choose the good and reject the

bad, a taste that will insure for them the culture that good literature

gives.

_Selection of material._ In choosing selections of literary worth to

present to her pupils, the teacher should keep in mind the pupil's stage

of mental development and she should not forget that the study of

literature should give pleasure. Often pupils do not like what moral

writers think they should like, and usually the pupils are right. Good

literature is sincere and is true in its appeal to the fundamental

emotions of humanity, and an obvious attempt to teach a moral theory at

the expense of truth is no more to be tolerated in literature for

children than in literature for adults. The childhood of the race has

produced much literature with a true appeal to the human heart, in the

form of fable, fairy story, myth, and hero story. Most of this

literature appeals strongly to the child of today. For several hundred

years the nursery rhymes of "Mother Goose" have delighted children with

their melody, humor, and imagery. As literature for the kindergarten and

first grade, they have not often been excelled by modern writers. The

task of selecting suitable material from the many poems, stories, and

books written for children in recent years is difficult, but if the

teacher has a keen appreciation of good literature and is guided by the

likes and dislikes of her pupils, she probably will not go far astray.

_Supplemental reading._ If the teacher examines the juvenile books

offered for sale by the book dealers of her town or city, she probably

will discover that most of them are trash not fit to be read by anyone,

and she will realize the importance of directing parents in the

selection of gift books for children. A good way to get better books

into the book stores and into the hands of children is to give the

pupils a list of good books, with the suggestion that they ask their

parents to buy one of them the next time a book is to be bought as a

present. Such lists of books also will improve the standard of books in

the town library, for librarians will be quick to realize the importance

of supplying standard literature if there is a demand for it.

3. STORY-TELLING AND DRAMATIZATION

_Story-telling._ Most stories are much more effective when well told

than they are when read, just as most lectures and sermons are most

effective when delivered without manuscript. To explain just why the

story well told is superior to the story read might not be easy, but

much of the superiority probably comes from the freedom of the "talk

style" and the more appropriate use of inflection and emphasis. Then,

too, the story-teller can look at her audience and is free to add a

descriptive word or phrase occasionally to produce vividness of

impression. Some stories, of course, are so constructed that they must

follow closely the diction of the original form. "Henny-Penny" and

Kipling's _Just-So Stories_ are of this type. Such stories should be

read. Most stories, however, are most effective when well told. The

teacher, especially the teacher of one of the primary grades, should not

consider herself prepared to teach literature until she has gained

something of the art of story-telling.

_Selection of stories._ Never attempt to tell a story that you do not

like. You are not prepared to interest pupils in a story, however

appropriate it otherwise may be, if you are not interested in it

yourself. Try to choose stories adapted in structure and content to the

age and experience of the children of your grade. For the first or

second grade, choose a few simple fables, a few short, simple fairy

tales, and a few short, simple nature stories, such as "Peter Rabbit,"

"How Johnny Chuck Finds the Best Thing in the World," and "Mr. 'Possum's

Sick Spell." Remember that a story for the first or second grade should

be short.

_Two principles._ Learn to apply readily the following principles of

method: First, use the past tense in telling a story except in direct

quotation. The rules of grammar require this, and it is an aid to

clearness and effectiveness. For example, do not say, "So he goes" or

"Then he says"; but say, "So he went" or "Then he said" (or, for

variety, _replied_, _growled_, _mumbled_, etc.). Second, use direct

discourse (the exact words of the characters) rather than indirect

discourse. For example, do not say, "The Troll asked who was tripping

over his bridge"; but say, "'WHO'S THAT tripping over my bridge?' roared

the Troll." Direct discourse always gives life and vividness to a story.

_Preparation and presentation._ When you have selected a suitable story,

read it carefully several times to learn the essential details and the

order in which they should come. Keep in mind the fact that you are to

use the past tense and direct discourse. If the story is a fable, you

probably will see that you should add much conversation and description

not in the text. A little description of the witch, giant, fairy, or

castle may give vividness to your story. If the story is a long fairy

tale, you may see that many details may be omitted. If the story is as

concise and dramatic as is the version of "The Three Billy-Goats Gruff"

in this book, it may be suitable for presentation without any changes.

When you have the story clearly in mind as you wish to present it, tell

it to the pupils several times, and then have some of them tell it.

Your story, of course, should not be told in a lifeless monotone. Some

parts should be told slowly, and others rapidly. In some parts the voice

should be low and soft, while in other parts it should be loud and gruff

or harsh. The words of the princess should not sound like those of the

old witch or the soldier. The daintiness and grace of elves and fairies

should be indicated in the delivery.

_Corroborative opinion._ The many books on the art of story-telling by

skilled practitioners and the emphasis placed upon the great practical

value of story-telling by all those charged with the oversight of the

education of children show conclusively that the story method in

teaching is having its grand renascence. The English education minister,

Mr. H. A. L. Fisher, speaking recently on the subject of "History

Teaching," set forth admirably the general principles back of this

revival:

There is no difficulty about interesting

children. The real difficulty is to bore them.

Almost any tale will interest a child. It need

not be well constructed or thrilling; it may be

filled with the most unexciting and trivial

incidents, but so long as it carries the mind

along at all, it will interest a child. The

hunger which intelligent children have for

stories is almost inexhaustible. They like to

have their stories repeated, and insist that

the characters should reappear over and over

again, for they have an appetite for reality

and a desire to fix these passing figments into

the landscape of the real life with which they

are surrounded.

One of the great qualities in childhood which

makes it apt for receiving historical

impressions is just this capacity for giving

body to the phantoms of the mind. The limits

between the real and the legendary or

miraculous which are drawn by the critical

intelligence do not exist for the childish

mind. . . . It would then be a great educational

disaster if this valuable faculty in childhood

were allowed to run to waste. There are certain

years in the development of every normal

intelligent child when the mind is full of

image-making power and eager to make a friend

or enemy of any god, hero, nymph, fairy, or

servant maid who may come along. Then is the

time when it is right and fitting to affect

some introductions to the great characters of

mythology and history; that is the age at which

children will eagerly absorb what they can

learn of Achilles and Orpheus, of King Arthur

and his Knights, of Alexander and Christopher

Columbus and the Duke of Wellington. I do not

think it is necessary to obtrude any moralizing

commentary when these great and vague images

are first brought into the landscape of the

child's intellectual experience. A little

description, a few stories, a picture or two,

will be enough to fix them in the memory and to

give them body and shape together with the

fairies and witches and pirate kings and

buccaneering captains with whom we have all at

one time been on such familiar terms. Let us

then begin by teaching the past to small

children by way of stories and pictures.

_Dramatization._ The play spirit that leads children to play lady,

doctor, church, and school will also lead them to enjoy dramatizing

stories, or "playing the stories," as they call it. Some stories, of

course, are so lacking in action as to be not well suited for

dramatization, and others have details of action, character, or

situation that may not well be represented in the schoolroom. The

teacher may be surprised, however, to see how ingenious her pupils are

in overcoming difficulties after they have had a little assistance in

playing two or three stories. Unconsciously the pupil will get from the

dramatization a training in oral English, reading, and literary

appreciation that can hardly be gained in any other way.

When the pupils have learned a story thoroughly, they are ready to make

plans for playing it. The stage setting may be considered first, and

here the child's imagination can work wonders in arranging details. The

opening under the teacher's desk may become a dungeon, a cave, a cellar,

or a well. If a two-story house is needed, it may be outlined on the

floor in the front part of the schoolroom, with a chalk-mark stairway,

up which Goldilocks can walk to lie down on three coats--the three beds

in the bed-chamber of the three bears.

The pupils can probably soon decide what characters are necessary, but

more time may be required to assign the parts. To play the part of a

spider, bear, wolf, fairy, sheep, or butterfly does not seem difficult

to a child who has entered into the spirit of the play.

The most difficult part of dramatization may be the plan for

conversation, especially if the text version of the story contains

little or no direct discourse. The pupils should know the general nature

of the conversation and action before they begin to play the story,

although they need not memorize the parts. Suppose that the fable "The

Shepherd's Boy" is to be dramatized. The first part of the dramatization

might be described about as follows:

The shepherd boy, tending his flock of

pupil-sheep in the pasture land at one side of

the teacher's-desk-mountain, looked toward the

pupil-desk-village at one side of the room and

said quietly, "It certainly is lonely here. I

believe I'll make those villagers think a wolf

has come to eat the sheep. Then perhaps they'll

come down here, and I'll have a little company

and some excitement." Then he jumped around

frantically, waving his yardstick-shepherd's

crook, and shouted to the villagers, "Wolf!

Wolf!"

The villagers came rushing down to the pasture

land, asking excitedly, "Where's the wolf? Has

he killed many of the sheep?"

"Oh, oh, oh," laughed the boy, "there wasn't

any wolf. I certainly did fool you that time."

"I don't think that's very funny," said one of

the villagers.

"Well, we might as well go back to our work,"

said another. Then they went back to the

village.

After they had gone, the boy said, "I guess

I'll try that joke again."

If the teacher puts much direct discourse in a story of this kind when

she tells it to the pupils, the task of dramatizing will naturally be

made easier.

Some stories lend themselves in the most natural manner to

dramatization. An interesting example of such a story may be found among

the tales dealing with the Wise Men of Gotham. These Wise Men are

referred to in one of the best known of the Mother Goose rhymes. It

would seem that the inhabitants of Gotham, in the reign of King John,

had some reason of their own for pretending to be mad, and out of this

event the legends took their rise. The number of fishermen may be

changed to seven or some other number to suit the number in the acting

group. Here is the story:

On a certain time there were twelve men of

Gotham that went to fish, and some stood on dry

land. And in going home, one said to the other

"We have ventured wonderfully in wading. I pray

God that none of us come home to be drowned."

"Nay, marry," said the other, "let us see that,

for there did twelve of us come out." Then they

counted themselves, and every one counted

eleven. Said the one to the other, "There is

one of us drowned." They went back to the brook

where they had been fishing and sought up and

down for him that was drowned, making great

lamentation.

A stranger coming by asked what it was they

sought for, and why they were sorrowful. "Oh!"

said they, "this day we went to fish in the

brook; twelve of us came together, and one is

drowned." Said the stranger, "Tell how many

there be of you." One of them, counting, said,

"Eleven," and again he did not count himself.

"Well," said the stranger, "what will you give

me if I find the twelfth man?" "Sir," said

they, "all the money we have got." "Give me the

money," said the stranger, and began with the

first, and gave him a stroke over the shoulders

with his whip, which made him groan, saying,

"Here is one," and so he served them all, and

they all groaned at the matter. When he came to

the last he paid him well, saying, "Here is the

twelfth man." "God's blessing on thy heart,"

said they, "for thus finding our dear brother."

4. COURSES OF STUDY

As an aid to inexperienced teachers, it seems well to suggest in a

summary how a selection of material suitable for each grade might be

made from the material of this book. The summary, however, should be

regarded as suggestive in a general way only. No detailed outline of a

course of study in literature for the grades can be ideal for all

schools because the pupils of a given grade in one school may be much

more advanced in the knowledge of literature and the ability to

understand and appreciate it than are the pupils of the same grade in

another school. Many literary selections, too, might appropriately be

taught in almost any grade if the method of presentation in each case

were suited to the understanding of the pupils. _Robinson Crusoe_, for

example, may appropriately be told to second-grade pupils, or it may be

read by fourth- or fifth-grade pupils, or it may be studied as fiction

by eighth-grade pupils or university students. All poems of remarkable

excellence that are suitable for primary pupils are also suitable for

pupils in the higher grades and for adults, and the same is true of many

prose selections.

The summary that follows, then, is to be regarded as "first aid" to the

untrained, inexperienced teacher. The teacher's own personal likes and

dislikes and her success in presenting various literary selections

should eventually lead her to modify any prescribed course of study. If

a teacher of the sixth grade discovers that her pupils should rank only

second grade in knowledge and appreciation of literature, she may very

properly begin with traditional fairy tales. Another outlined course of

study is given in Section XII of this book.

_First, second, and third grades._ Since pupils in the primary grades

read with difficulty if at all, the teacher should tell or read all

selections presented as literature in these grades.

No kind of prose is better suited for use in the primary grades than

traditional fairy tales. About half a dozen might well be presented in

each of the three grades. For the first grade, the simplest should be

chosen, such as "The Old Woman and Her Pig," "Teeny-Tiny," "The Cat and

the Mouse," "The Three Pigs," "The Three Bears," and "The Elves and the

Shoemaker." As suitable stories for the second grade, we might choose

"The Three Sillies," "Little Red Riding-Hood," "Cinderella," "The Three

Billy-Goats Gruff," "The Straw Ox," and "The Horned Women." For the

third grade, somewhat longer and more complex stories might be chosen.

About half a dozen fables might also be used appropriately in each of

the primary grades. Simple Aesopic fables in prose seem best for the

first two grades. More complex forms might be chosen for the third

grade, for example, "The Story of Alnaschar," "The Good Samaritan," "The

Discontented Pendulum," "The Musical Ass," "The Swan, the Pike, and the

Crab," and "The Hen with the Golden Eggs."

Much of the nature literature of the primary grades may be in the form

of verse, but some simple nature prose may be used successfully. From

the selections in this book, "Peter Rabbit" should be chosen for the

first grade, while "Johnny Chuck," and "Mr. 'Possum's Sick Spell" are

appropriate for the second and third grades.

The simplest of Andersen's _Fairy Tales_ may be used in the third grade,

and perhaps in the second. Some suitable stories are "The Real

Princess," "The Fir Tree," "The Tinder Box," "The Hardy Tin Soldier,"

and "The Ugly Duckling."

The ideal verse for the first grade is nursery rhymes, which may be

chosen from the first 135 selections of this book. These may be

supplemented by such simple verse as "The Three Kittens," "The Moon,"

"Ding Dong," "The Little Kitty," "Baby Bye," "Time to Rise," "Rain," "I

Like Little Pussy," and "The Star." In the second and third grades,

traditional verses from those following Number 135 in Section II may be

used. The poems by Stevenson are ideal for these grades, and those by

Field, Sherman, and Christina Rossetti are good. In addition the teacher

might select such poems as "The Brown Thrush," and "Who Stole the Bird's

Nest."

_Fourth, fifth, and sixth grades._ Although pupils in these intermediate

grades may be expected to read some library books, the teacher should

read and tell stories frequently, for this is the surest way to develop

in the pupil a taste for good literature. The teacher should remember,

too, that the story she recommends to the pupils as suitable reading

should be about two grades easier than those told or read by the

teacher. Probably every poem presented as literature in these grades

should be read or recited by the teacher because pupils are not likely

to get the charm of rhythm, melody, and rhyme if they do the reading.

Pupils who dislike poetry are pupils who have not heard good poetry well

read.

Myths are appropriate for each of the intermediate grades. Most teachers

prefer for the fourth grade the simpler classical myths, such as "A

Story of Springtime," "The Miraculous Pitcher," "The Narcissus," and

"The Apple of Discord." In the fifth grade, the teacher may use the more

difficult classical myths, reserving the Norse myths for the sixth

grade.

Modern fairy and fantastic stories are also appropriate for each of

these grades. Suitable stories for the fourth grade are "The Four-Leaved

Clover," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Nightingale," and "The Story

of Fairyfoot." Stories appropriate for the fifth grade are "The Happy

Prince," "The Knights of the Silver Shield," and "The Prince's Dream."

In the sixth grade, the teacher might use "Old Pipes and the Dryad" and

"The King of the Golden River."

Two or three symbolic stories or fables in verse from the last part of

Section V should be used in each of these grades.

Nature prose should appeal more and more to children as they advance

from the fourth to the eighth grade. Many pupils in the fourth grade

will enjoy reading for themselves books by Burgess and Paine, while

fifth- and sixth-grade pupils will get much pleasure from the simpler

books by Sharp, Seton, Long, Miller, and Roberts. In the intermediate

grades, the teacher may read such stories as "Wild Life in the Farm

Yard," "The Vendetta," "Pasha," "Moufflou," and "Bird Habits."

Stories of various other kinds may be read by the teacher in the

intermediate grades. "Goody Two-Shoes" and "Waste Not, Want Not," are

suitable for the fourth grade. The biographies "How Columbus Got His

Ships" and "Boyhood of Washington" are excellent in the fifth or sixth

grade as an introduction to history study, and the romance "Robin Hood

and the Merry Little Old Woman" may be used appropriately in any of

these grades, especially if it is made to supplement a discussion of the

Norman conquest.

Most of the poems up to about No. 342, and a few beyond that, are within

the range of the work for these grades.

_Seventh and eighth grades._ Although pupils in the seventh and eighth

grades may be expected to read simple narrative readily, the teacher

should read to the pupils frequently. It cannot be too much emphasized

that reading aloud to children is the surest way of developing an

appreciation of the best in literature. In poetry especially this is a

somewhat critical time, as the pupil is passing from the simpler and

more concrete verse to that which has a more prominent thought content.

The persuasion of the reading voice smooths over many obstacles here.

Outside the field of poetry, the teacher's work in these grades is

mainly one of guidance and direction in getting the children and the

right books in contact. Children at this period are likely to be

omnivorous readers, ready for any book that comes their way, and the job

of keeping them supplied with titles of enough available good books for

their needs is indeed one to tax all a teacher's knowledge and

experience.

The demand for highly sensational stories on the part of pupils in the

upper grades is so insistent that it constitutes a special problem for

the teacher. It is a perfectly natural demand, and no wise teacher will

attempt to stifle it. Such an attempt would almost certainly result in a

more or less surreptitious reading of a mass of unwholesome books which

have come to be known as "dime novels." Instead of trying to thwart this

desire for the thrilling story the teacher should be ready to recommend

books which have all the attractive adventure features of the "dime

novel," and which have in addition sound artistic and ethical qualities.

While many such books are mentioned in the bibliographies in the latter

part of this text, it has seemed well to bring together here a short

list of those which librarians over the country have found particularly

fitted to serve as substitutes for the dime novel.

Alden, W. L., _The Moral Pirate_.

Altsheler, Joseph A., _The Young Trailers_. _Horsemen of the

Plains._

Barbour, Ralph H., _The Crimson Sweater_.

Bennett, John, _The Treasure of Peyre Gaillard_.

Burton, Charles P., _The Boys of Bob's Hill_.

Carruth, Hayden, _Track's End_.

Cody, William F., _Adventures of Buffalo Bill_.

Drysdale, William, _The Fast Mail_.

Grinnell, George Bird, _Jack among the Indians_. _Jack, the

Young Ranchman._

Hunting, Henry G., _The Cave of the Bottomless Pool_.

Janvier, Thomas A., _The Aztec Treasure House_.

Kaler, James Otis, _Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus_.

London, Jack, _The Call of the Wild_.

Malone, Captain P. B., _Winning His Way to West Point_.

Masefield, John, _Jim Davis_.

Mason, Alfred B., _Tom Strong, Washington's Scout_.

Matthews, Brander, _Tom Paulding_.

Moffett, Cleveland, _Careers of Danger and Daring_.

Munroe, Kirk, _Cab and Caboose_. _Derrick Sterling._

O'Higgins, Harvey J., _The Smoke Eaters_.

Quirk, Leslie W., _The Boy Scouts of the Black Eagle Patrol_.

Sabin, Edwin L., _Bar B Boys_.

Schultz, James Willard, _With the Indians in the Rockies_.

Stevenson, Burton E., _The Young Train Despatcher_.

Stevenson, Robert Louis, _Treasure Island_.

Stoddard, William O., _Two Arrows_. _Talking Leaves._

Trowbridge, John T., _Cudjo's Cave_. _The Young Surveyor._

Verne, Jules, _20,000 Leagues under the Sea_.

Wallace, Dillon, _Wilderness Castaways_.

White, Stewart Edward, _The Magic Forest_.

SECTION II

MOTHER GOOSE JINGLES AND NURSERY RHYMES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. IMPORTANT IN TRACING THE MOTHER GOOSE CANON

c. 1760. _Mother Goose's Melody._ [Published by

John Newbery, London.]

No copy of this issue known to be in existence.

c. 1783. Ritson, Joseph, _Gammer Gurton's Garland, or the Nursery

Parnassus_. [1810, enlarged.]

c. 1785. _Mother Goose's Melody._ [Reprint of Newbery, by Isaiah Thomas,

Worcester, Mass.]

[1889. Whitmore, W. H., _The Original Mother

Goose's Melody_, as first issued by John

Newbery, of London, about A.D. 1760. Reproduced

in _facsimile_ from the edition as reprinted by

Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., about A.D.

1785. With introduction and notes.]

1824 ff. _Mother Goose's Quarto, or Melodies Complete._ [Various issues

by Munroe and Francis, Boston.]

[Hale, Edward Everett, _The Only True Mother

Goose Melodies_. Exact reproduction of the text

and illustrations of the original edition

(_Mother Goose's Melodies: The Only Pure

Edition_) printed in Boston in 1834 by Monroe

and Francis. With an introduction.]

1826. Chambers, Robert, _Popular Rhymes of Scotland_. [1870, enlarged.]

1834. Ker, John Bellenden, _An Essay on the Archaeology of Popular

English Phrases and Nursery Rhymes_. [Supplemented 1840 and 1842.]

1842. Halliwell (Phillips), J. O., _The Nursery Rhymes of England_.

1849. Halliwell (Phillips), J. O., _Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales_.

1864. Rimbault, Edward F., _Old Nursery Rhymes with Tunes_.

II. IMPORTANT MODERN COLLECTIONS

Baring-Gould, Sabine, _A Book of Nursery Songs and Rhymes_.

Headland, I. T., _Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes_.

Jerrold, Walter, _The Big Book of Nursery Rhymes_.

Lang, Andrew, _The Nursery Rhyme Book_.

Newell, W. W., _Games and Songs of American Children_.

Saintsbury, G. E. B., _National Rhymes of the Nursery_.

Welsh, Charles, _A Book of Nursery Rhymes_.

Wheeler, William A., _Mother Goose's Melodies_.

III. NURSERY RHYMES WITH MUSIC

Crane, Walter, _The Baby's Bouquet, a Fresh Bunch of Old Rhymes

and Tunes_.

Homer, Sidney, _Songs from Mother Goose_.

Le Mair, H. Willebeck, _Our Old Nursery Rhymes_.

Le Mair, H. Willebeck, _Little Songs of Long Ago_.

Perkins, Raymond, _Thirty Old-Time Nursery Songs_.

IV. STUDIES

Bolton, H. C., _Counting-out Rhymes of Children, Their Antiquity,

Origin, and Wide Distribution_.

Earle, Alice Morse, _Child Life in Colonial Days_. [Especially

chap. xiv.]

Eckenstein, Lina, _Comparative Studies in Nursery Rhymes_.

Godfrey, Elizabeth, _English Children in the Olden Time_.

[Especially chap. ii.]

Gomme, A. B., _The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and

Ireland_. 2 vols.

Green, P. B., _The History of Nursery Rhymes_.

Halsey, Rosalie V., _Forgotten Books of the American Nursery_.

Field, W. T., _Fingerposts to Children's Reading_, pp. 193 ff.

Moses, M. J., _Children's Books and Reading_, pp. 40 ff.

SECTION II. MOTHER GOOSE JINGLES AND NURSERY RHYMES

INTRODUCTORY

_A flawless literature._ The one literature that is supremely adapted to

its purpose is the collection of rhymes associated with Mother Goose. To

every child it comes with an irresistible appeal. It has a power so

natural and fundamental that it defies explanation. The child takes it

for granted just as he does his parents. It has a perfection of rhythm

and structure not attainable by modern imitators. It has been perfected

through the generations by the surest of all tests, that of constant

popular use. Much of it is common to many different nations. It is an

international literature of childhood. While much of it is known to

children long before they enter school, these jingles, like all folk

literature, never lose their charm through repetition. The schools have

long since learned the value of the familiar in teaching. The process of

learning to read is usually based on some of the better known rhymes.

Teachers of literature in more advanced classes think they can generally

detect the students who have been especially "learned" in "Mother Goose

her ways" by their quick responsiveness to the facts of verbal rhythm

and rhythmical structure in more sophisticated products. "If we have no

love for poetry to-day, it may not impossibly be due to the fact that we

have ceased to prize the old, old tales which have been the delight of

the child and the child-man since the foundations of the world. If you

want your child to love Homer, do not withhold Mother Goose."

_Who was Mother Goose?_ The answer to this, as to other questions

suggested below, may be of no direct or special interest to the children

themselves. But teachers should know some of the main conclusions

arrived at by folklorists and others in their investigations of the

traditional materials used for basic work in literature. All the

evidence shows that Mother Goose as the name of the familiar old lady of

the nursery came to us from France. Andrew Lang discovered a reference

to her in a French poem of 1650, where she figures as a teller of

stories. In 1697 Perrault's famous fairy tales were published with a

frontispiece representing an old woman spinning, and telling tales to a

man, a girl, a little boy, and a cat. On this frontispiece was the

legend, _Tales of Our Mother Goose_. (See note to No. 161.)

As a teller of prose tales, Mother Goose came to England with the

translation of Perrault about 1730. We do not find her name connected

with verse until after the middle of the eighteenth century. About the

year 1760 a little book called _Mother Goose's Melody_ was issued by

John Newbery, a London publisher and a most important figure in the

history of the production of books for children. It is a pleasant and

not improbable theory that this first collection of nursery rhymes, upon

which later ones were built, was the work of Oliver Goldsmith, who was

for some years in Newbery's employ. However that may be, it is certain

that from this date the name of Mother Goose has been almost exclusively

associated with nursery rhymes.

Newbery's _Mother Goose's Melody_ was soon reprinted by Isaiah Thomas,

of Worcester, Massachusetts, and thus came into the hands of American

children early in our national life. A long-since exploded theory was

advanced about 1870 that Mother Goose was a real woman of Boston in the

early eighteenth century, whose rhymes were published by her son-in-law,

Thomas Fleet, in 1719. But no one has identified any such publication

and there is no evidence whatever that this old lady in cap and

spectacles is other than purely mythical.

_Whence came the jingles themselves?_ It is certain that many nursery

rhymes are both widespread geographically in distribution and of great

antiquity. Halliwell and others have found references to some of them in

old books which prove that many of the English rhymes go back several

centuries. They are of popular origin; that is, they took root

anonymously among the folk and were passed on by word of mouth. When a

rhyme can be traced to any known authority we generally find that the

folk have extracted what pleased, have forgotten or modified any

original historical or other application the rhymes may have possessed,

and in general have shaped the rhyme to popular taste. "Thus our old

nursery rhymes," says Andrew Lang, "are smooth stones from the book of

time, worn round by constant friction of tongues long silent. We cannot

hope to make new nursery rhymes, any more than we can write new fairy

tales."

Here are a few illustrations of what scholars have been able to tell us

of the sources of the rhymes: "Jack and Jill" preserves the Icelandic

myth of two children caught up into the moon, where they can still be

seen carrying a bucket on a pole between them. "Three Blind Mice" is

traced to an old book called _Deuteromalia_ (1609). "Little Jack Horner"

is all that is left of an extended chapbook story, _The Pleasant History

of Jack Horner, Containing His Witty Tricks_, etc. "Poor Old Robinson

Crusoe" is a fragment from a song by the character Jerry Sneak in

Foote's _Mayor of Garratt_ (1763). "Simple Simon" gives all that the

nursery has preserved of a long chapbook verse story. "A Swarm of Bees

in May" was found by Halliwell quoted in Miege's _Great French

Dictionary_ (1687). These and numerous like facts serve only to impress

us with the long and honorable history of the nursery rhyme.

_Can nursery rhymes be helpfully classified?_ This question seems of

more consequence to the teacher than the previous ones because it deals

with the practical organization of his material. The most superficial

observer can see that Nos. 3, 36, 46, 59, 62, and 113, on the following

pages, are riddles; that Nos. 22 and 30 are counting-out rhymes; that

Nos. 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41 are replies that might be made to one who

indulged unduly in suppositions; that No. 27 is a face game, No. 75 a

hand game, and No. 108 a toe game; that Nos. 42, 81, 82, 107, and 111

are riding songs; that Nos. 7, 10, 23, 67, and 137 are proverbial

sayings; that Nos. 64 and 89 are charms; and so one might continue with

groupings based on the immediate use made of the rhyme, not forgetting

the great number that lend themselves to the purposes of the crooned

lullaby or soothing song.

Halliwell made the first attempt at any complete classification in his

_Nursery Rhymes of England_ (1842), using eighteen headings: (1)

Historical, (2) Literal, (3) Tales, (4) Proverbs, (5) Scholastic, (6)

Songs, (7) Riddles, (8) Charms, (9) Gaffers and Gammers, (10) Games,

(11) Paradoxes, (12) Lullabies, (13) Jingles, (14) Love and Matrimony,

(15) Natural History, (16) Accumulative Stories, (17) Local, (18)

Relics. Andrew Lang follows Halliwell, but reduces the classes to

fourteen by combining (2) and (5), (7) and (11), (8) and (12), and by

omitting (17). These classifications are made from the standpoint of the

folklore scholar, and are based on the sources from which the rhymes

originally sprang. Professor Saintsbury scouts the value of any such

arrangement, since all belong equally in the one class, "jingles," and

he also rightly points out that "all genuine nursery rhymes . . . have

never become nursery rhymes until the historical fact has been

practically forgotten by those who used them, and nothing but the

metrical and musical attraction remains."

Without denying the great significance of popular rhymes to the student

of folklore, we must look elsewhere for any practical suggestion for the

teacher in the matter of arrangement. Such a suggestion will be found in

the late Charles Welsh's _Book of Nursery Rhymes_, a little volume that

every teacher interested in children's literature must make use of. The

rhymes are grouped into three main divisions: (1) Mother Play, (2)

Mother Stories, and (3) Child Play, with subordinate groupings under

each. About 250 rhymes are included in Welsh's collection, and the

arrangement suggests the best order for using them practically, without

dropping into any ironclad system.

It may be argued that any attempt at classification of material so

freely and variously used as the Mother Goose rhymes is sure to stiffen

the work of the class and render it less enjoyable. Spontaneity is more

vital here than at any other stage of one's literary education.

_What is the secret of the nursery rhyme's appeal to children?_ Here at

least we are face to face with what may be called a final fact, that

these jingles do make an appeal so universal and remarkable that any

attempt to explain it seems always to fall far short of completeness.

Perhaps the best start may be made with Mr. Welsh's suggestion that this

appeal is threefold: first, that which comes from the rhyming jingle, as

in "Higgledy, piggledy, my fat hen"; second, that which comes from the

nonsense surprises, as in "Hey diddle diddle," "Three wise men of

Gotham," and "I'll tell you a story"; third, that which comes from the

dramatic action, as in "Little Miss Muffet," and "Little Jack Horner."

This summary does not differ much from Mr. Walter Taylor Field's

conclusions: "The child takes little thought as to what _any_ of these

verses mean. There are perhaps four elements in them that appeal to

him,--first, the jingle, and with it that peculiar cadence which modern

writers of children's poetry strive in vain to imitate; second, the

nonsense,--with just enough of sense in it to connect the nonsense with

the child's thinkable world; third, the action,--for the stories are

quite dramatic in their way; and fourth, the quaintness." Mr. Field also

emphasizes the probable charm of mystery in the face of the unknown

facts beyond the child's horizon, which appear in many of the rhymes.

Other commentators do little beyond expanding some of these suggestions.

All of them agree in stressing the appeal made by rhythm, the jingle,

the emphatic meter. This seems a fundamental thing in all literature,

though readers are mainly conscious of it in poetry. Just how

fundamental it is in human life has not been better hinted than in a

sentence by Mrs. MacClintock: "One who is trying to write a sober

treatise in a matter-of-fact way dares not, lest he be set down as the

veriest mystic, say all the things that might be said about the

function of rhythm, especially in its more pronounced form of meter,

among a community of children, no matter what the size of the group--how

rhythmic motion, or the flow of measured and beautiful sounds,

harmonizes their differences, tunes them up to their tasks, disciplines

their conduct, comforts their hurts, quiets their nerves; all this apart

from the facts more or less important from the point of view of

literature, that it cultivates their ear, improves their taste, and

provides them a genuinely artistic pleasure."

Professor Saintsbury, as usual, adds a fascinating turn to the

discussion when, after agreeing that we may see in the rhymes, "to a

great extent, the poetical appeal of sound as opposed to that of meaning

in its simplest and most unmistakable terms," he continues: "And we

shall find something else, which I venture to call the attraction of the

inarticulate. . . . In moments of more intense and genuine feeling . . .

[man] does not as a rule use or at least confine himself to articulate

speech. . . . All children . . . fall naturally, long after they are able

to express themselves as it is called rationally, into a sort of pleasant

gibberish when they are alone and pleased or even displeased. . . . It must

be a not infrequent experience of most people that one frequently falls

into pure jingle and nonsense verse of the nursery kind. . . . I should

myself, though I may not carry many people with me, go farther than this

and say that this 'attraction of the inarticulate,' this allurement of

mere sound and sequence, has a great deal more to do than is generally

thought with the charm of the very highest poetry. . . . In the best

nursery rhymes, as in the simpler and more genuine ballads which have so

close a connection with them, we find this attraction of the

inarticulate--this charm of pure sound, this utilizing of alliteration

and rhyme and assonance." Those who have noticed the tendency of

children to find vocal pleasure even of a physical or muscular sort in

nonsense combinations of sounds, and who also realize their own tendency

in this direction, will feel that Professor Saintsbury has hit upon a

suggestive term in his claim for "the attraction of the inarticulate" as

a partial explanation of the Mother Goose appeal.

Through song, game, memorization, and dramatization, traditional or

original, the rhymes may be made to contribute to the child's

satisfaction in all of the directions pointed out.

SUGGESTIONS FOR READING

(Books referred to by authors' names are listed

in preceding bibliography.)

For orientation read Chauncey B. Tinker, "In

Praise of Nursery Lore," _Unpopular Review_,

Vol. VI, p. 338 (Oct.-Dec., 1916). For a most

satisfactory presentation of the whole subject

read chap. x, "Mother Goose," in Field. For the

origin of Mother Goose as a character consult

Lang's introduction to his edition of

_Perrault's Popular Tales_. For the theory of

her American nativity see Wheeler and Whitmore.

For the origins of the rhymes themselves the

authorities are Halliwell and Eckenstein. For

pedagogical suggestions see Welsh, also his

article "Nursery Rhymes," _Cyclopedia of

Education_ (ed. Monroe). For many interesting

facts and suggestions on rhythm in nursery

rhymes consult Charles H. Sears, "Studies in

Rhythm," _Pedagogical Seminary_, Vol. VIII, p.

3. For the whole subject of folk songs look

into Martinengo-Cesaresco, _The Study of Folk

Songs_. Books and periodicals dealing with

primary education often contain brief

discussions of value on the use of rhymes. Many

Mother Goose records have been prepared by the

educational departments of the various

talking-machine companies, and may be used to

advantage in the work in rhythm.

The shorter rhymes (Nos. 1-115) are arranged in alphabetical order.

There are many slight variations in the form of the text as found in

printed versions and in the oral versions used by children in different

communities. While Halliwell has been used as the basis for rhymes given

in his collection, the following versions try to reproduce the forms of

expression that seem generally most pleasing to children.

A cat came fiddling out of a barn,

With a pair of bagpipes under her arm;

She could sing nothing but fiddle-de-dee,

The mouse has married the bumble-bee;

Pipe, cat--dance, mouse--

We'll have a wedding at our good house.

A diller, a dollar,

A ten o'clock scholar,

What makes you come so soon?

You used to come at ten o'clock,

And now you come at noon.

As I was going to St. Ives,

I met a man with seven wives;

Every wife had seven sacks,

Every sack had seven cats,

Every cat had seven kits:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were there going to St. Ives?

(_One._)

As I was going up Pippen Hill,--

Pippen Hill was dirty,--

There I met a pretty miss,

And she dropped me a curtsy.

Little miss, pretty miss,

Blessings light upon you;

If I had half-a-crown a day,

I'd spend it all upon you.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Upon my word of honor.

As Tommy Snooks and Bessie Brooks

Were walking out one Sunday,

Says Tommy Snooks to Bessie Brooks,

"To-morrow will be Monday."

A swarm of bees in May

Is worth a load of hay;

A swarm of bees in June

Is worth a silver spoon;

A swarm of bees in July

Is not worth a fly.

Baa, baa, black sheep,

Have you any wool?

Yes, marry, have I,

Three bags full;

One for my master,

And one for my dame,

And one for the little boy

Who lives in the lane.

Barber, barber, shave a pig,

How many hairs will make a wig?

"Four and twenty, that's enough."

Give the barber a pinch of snuff.

Birds of a feather flock together,

And so will pigs and swine;

Rats and mice will have their choice,

And so will I have mine.

Bless you, bless you, burnie bee;

Say, when will your wedding be?

If it be to-morrow day,

Take your wings and fly away.

Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,

With silver buckles at his knee;

He'll come back and marry me,--

Pretty Bobby Shafto!

Bobby Shafto's fat and fair,

Combing out his yellow hair,

He's my love for evermore,--

Pretty Bobby Shafto!

Bow, wow, wow,

Whose dog art thou?

Little Tom Tinker's dog,

Bow, wow, wow.

Bye, baby bunting,

Daddy's gone a-hunting,

To get a little rabbit skin

To wrap the baby bunting in.

Come when you're called,

Do what you're bid,

Shut the door after you,

Never be chid.

Cross patch,

Draw the latch,

And sit by the fire and spin;

Take a cup,

And drink it up,

Then call your neighbors in.

Curly locks! curly locks! wilt thou be mine?

Thou shalt not wash the dishes, nor yet feed the swine.

But sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam,

And feed upon strawberries, sugar, and cream!

Dance, little baby, dance up high,

Never mind, baby, mother is by;

Crow and caper, caper and crow,

There, little baby, there you go;

Up to the ceiling, down to the ground,

Backward and forward, round and round;

Dance, little baby, and mother will sing,

With the merry coral, ding, ding, ding!

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,

He went to bed with his stockings on;

One shoe off, the other shoe on,

Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.

Ding, dong, bell!

Pussy's in the well.

Who put her in?

Little Tommy Green.

Who pulled her out?

Little Johnny Stout.

What a naughty boy was that,

To drown the poor, poor pussy-cat,

Who never did him any harm,

But killed the mice in his father's barn.

Doctor Foster

Went to Glo'ster,

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Up to his middle,

And never went there again.

Eggs, butter, cheese, bread,

Stick, stock, stone dead,

Stick him up, stick him down,

Stick him in the old man's crown.

For every evil under the sun,

There is a remedy, or there is none.

If there be one, try to find it,

If there be none, never mind it.

Four-and-twenty tailors went to kill a snail,

The bravest man among them dursn't touch her tail;

The snail put out her horns, like a little Kyloe cow,

Run, tailors, run, or she'll kill you all e'en now.

Great A, little a,

Bouncing B!

The cat's in the cupboard,

And she can't see.

Hark, hark,

The dogs do bark,

The beggars are coming to town:

Some in tags,

Some in rags,

And some in velvet gowns.

Here sits the Lord Mayor, (_touching forehead_)

Here sit his two men, (_eyes_)

Here sits the cock, (_right cheek_)

Here sits the hen, (_left cheek_)

Here sit the little chickens, (_tip of nose_)

Here they all run in; (_mouth_)

Chinchopper, chinchopper,

Chinchopper chin! (_chuck the chin_)

Here we go up, up, up,

And here we go down, down, down;

And here we go backwards and forwards,

And here we go round, round, round.

Given as usually known to children. In some

older versions the word "craft" was used

instead of "sport," thus making a rhyme. There

is an old story of an overly serious parent who

was greatly disturbed by the evident

exaggerations in this jingle. After calling the

attention of his children to the offensive

improbabilities, the good man suggested the

following "revised version."

Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped _under_ the moon;

The little dog _barked_,

To see the sport,

And the _cat_ ran after the spoon!

Hey! diddle, diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the moon;

The little dog laughed

To see such sport,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Hickery, dickery, 6 and 7,

Alabone Crackabone, 10 and 11,

Spin, span, muskidan;

Twiddle 'um, twaddle 'um, 21.

Higgledy, Piggledy,

My black hen,

She lays eggs

For gentlemen;

Sometimes nine,

And sometimes ten,

Higgledy, Piggledy,

My black hen!

Hickory, dickory, dock,

The mouse ran up the clock,

The clock struck one,

The mouse ran down;

Hickory, dickory, dock.

Hogs in the garden, catch 'em, Towser.

Cows in the cornfield, run, boys, run;

Cats in the cream-pot, run, girls, run, girls;

Fire on the mountains, run, boys, run.

Hot-cross buns!

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot-cross buns!

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons.

Hub a dub dub,

Three men in a tub;

The butcher, the baker,

The candlestick-maker,

They all fell out of a rotten potato.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

Threescore men and threescore more

Cannot place Humpty Dumpty as he was before.

(_An egg._)

If all the sea were one sea,

What a _great_ sea that would be!

And if all the trees were one tree,

What a _great_ tree that would be!

And if all the axes were one axe,

What a _great_ axe that would be!

And if all the men were one man,

What a _great_ man he would be!

And if the _great_ man took the _great_ axe,

And cut down the _great_ tree,

And let it fall into the _great_ sea,

What a splish splash _that_ would be!

If all the world was apple-pie,

And all the sea was ink,

And all the trees were bread and cheese,

What should we have for drink?

If I'd as much money as I could spend,

I never would cry, "Old chairs to mend!

Old chairs to mend! Old chairs to mend!"

I never would cry, "Old chairs to mend!"

If I'd as much money as I could tell,

I never would cry, "Old clothes to sell!

Old clothes to sell! Old clothes to sell!"

I never would cry, "Old clothes to sell!"

If "ifs" and "ands"

Were pots and pans,

There would be no need for tinkers!

If wishes were horses,

Beggars might ride;

If turnips were watches,

I'd wear one by my side.

I had a little pony,

His name was Dapple-gray,

I lent him to a lady,

To ride a mile away;

She whipped him, she slashed him,

She rode him through the mire;

I would not lend my pony now

For all that lady's hire.

I had a little hobby horse,

His name was Tommy Gray,

His head was made of pease straw,

His body made of hay;

I saddled him and bridled him,

And rode him up to town,

There came a little puff of wind

And blew him up and down.

I have a little sister, they call her peep, peep;

She wades the waters deep, deep, deep;

She climbs the mountains high, high, high;

Poor little creature, she has but one eye.

(_A star._)

I'll tell you a story

Of Jack-a-Nory,

And now my story's begun.

I'll tell you another

About Jack's brother,

And now my story is done.

In marble walls as white as milk,

Lined with a skin as soft as silk;

Within a fountain crystal clear,

A golden apple doth appear.

No doors there are to this stronghold,

Yet thieves break in and steal the gold.

(_An egg._)

1. I went up one pair of stairs.

2. Just like me.

1. I went up two pair of stairs.

2. Just like me.

1. I went into a room.

2. Just like me.

1. I looked out of a window.

2. Just like me.

1. And there I saw a monkey.

2. Just like me.

Jack and Jill went up the hill,

To fetch a pail of water;

Jack fell down, and broke his crown,

And Jill came tumbling after.

Jack be nimble,

Jack be quick,

Jack jump over the candlestick.

Jack Sprat could eat no fat,

His wife could eat no lean;

And so between them both, you see,

They licked the platter clean.

Knock at the door, (_forehead_)

And peep in, (_lift eyelids_)

Open the door, (_mouth_)

And walk in.

Chinchopper, chinchopper,

Chinchopper chin!

These lines, common in similar form to many

countries, are said by children when they throw

the beautiful little insect into the air to

make it take flight.

Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,

Your house is on fire, your children all gone;

All but one, and her name is Ann,

And she crept under the pudding-pan.

Little boy blue, come blow your horn,

The sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn;

Where is the boy that looks after the sheep?

He's under the haycock fast asleep.

Will you wake him? No, not I;

For if I do, he'll be sure to cry.

Little girl, little girl, where have you been?

Gathering roses to give to the queen.

Little girl, little girl, what gave she you?

She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe.

Little Jack Horner

Sat in a corner,

Eating his Christmas pie.

He put in his thumb,

And he pulled out a plum,

And said, "What a good boy am I!"

Little Jack Jingle,

He used to live single,

But when he got tired of this kind of life,

He left off being single and lived with his wife.

Little Johnny Pringle had a little pig;

It was very little, so was not very big.

As it was playing beneath the shed,

In half a minute poor Piggie was dead.

So Johnny Pringle he sat down and cried,

And Betty Pringle she lay down and died.

This is the history of one, two, and three,

Johnny Pringle he,

Betty Pringle she,

And the Piggie-Wiggie.

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating of curds and whey;

There came a great spider,

And sat down beside her,

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Little Nancy Etticoat,

In a white petticoat,

And a red nose;

The longer she stands,

The shorter she grows.

(_A candle._)

Little Robin Redbreast

Sat upon a rail;

Niddle naddle went his head,

Wiggle waggle went his tail.

Little Tommy Tucker

Sings for his supper;

What shall he eat?

White bread and butter.

How shall he cut it

Without e'er a knife?

How will he be married

Without e'er a wife?

Long legs, crooked thighs,

Little head and no eyes.

(_The tongs._)

Lucy Locket lost her pocket,

Kitty Fisher found it:

Nothing in it, nothing in it,

But the binding round it.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Guard the bed that I lie on!

Four corners to my bed,

Four angels round my head;

One to watch, one to pray,

And two to bear my soul away.

Mistress Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With cockle-shells, and silver bells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

Multiplication is vexation,

Division is as bad;

The Rule of Three perplexes me,

And Practice drives me mad.

Needles and pins, needles and pins,

When a man marries his trouble begins.

Old King Cole

Was a merry old soul,

And a merry old soul was he;

He called for his pipe,

And he called for his bowl,

And he called for his fiddlers three.

Every fiddler, he had a fine fiddle,

And a very fine fiddle had he;

Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers.

Oh, there's one so rare,

As can compare

With old King Cole and his fiddlers three!

Once I saw a little bird

Come hop, hop, hop;

So I cried, "Little bird,

Will you stop, stop, stop?"

And was going to the window

To say, "How do you do?"

But he shook his little tail,

And far away he flew.

One for the money,

And two for the show;

Three to make ready,

And four to go.

One misty, moisty morning,

When cloudy was the weather,

I chanced to meet an old man

Clothed all in leather,

He began to compliment,

And I began to grin,--

"How do you do," and "How do you do,"

And "How do you do" again!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

I caught a hare alive;

6, 7, 8, 9, 10!

I let her go again.

One, two,

Buckle my shoe;

Three, four,

Shut the door;

Five, six,

Pick up sticks;

Seven, eight,

Lay them straight;

Nine, ten,

A good fat hen;

Eleven, twelve,

Who will delve?

Thirteen, fourteen,

Maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen,

Maids a-kissing;

Seventeen, eighteen,

Maids a-waiting;

Nineteen, twenty,

My stomach's empty.

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man!

So I will, master, as fast as I can:

Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T,

Put it in the oven for Tommy and me.

Pease-porridge hot,

Pease-porridge cold,

Pease-porridge in the pot,

Nine days old;

Some like it hot,

Some like it cold,

Some like it in the pot,

Nine days old.

Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,

Had a wife and couldn't keep her;

He put her in a pumpkin-shell,

And there he kept her very well.

Halliwell suggests that "off a pewter plate" is

sometimes added at the end of each line. This

rhyme is famous as a "tongue twister," or

enunciation exercise.

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,

Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Poor old Robinson Crusoe!

They made him a coat,

Of an old nanny goat,

I wonder how they could do so!

With a ring a ting tang,

And a ring a ting tang,

Poor old Robinson Crusoe!

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, where have you been?

I've been to London to see the Queen.

Pussy-cat, pussy-cat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under the chair.

Pussy sits beside the fire;

How can she be fair?

In comes the little dog,

"Pussy, are you there?

So, so, dear Mistress Pussy,

Pray tell me how do you do?"

"Thank you, thank you, little dog,

I'm very well just now."

Ride a cock-horse to Banbury-cross,

To see an old lady upon a white horse,

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

And so she makes music wherever she goes.

Ride, baby, ride!

Pretty baby shall ride,

And have a little puppy-dog tied to her side;

And one little pussy-cat tied to the other,

And away she shall ride to see her grandmother,

To see her grandmother,

To see her grandmother.

Rock-a-bye, baby,

On the tree top,

When the wind blows

The cradle will rock;

When the bough breaks

The cradle will fall,

Down will come baby,

Bough, cradle, and all.

Rock-a-bye, baby, thy cradle is green;

Father's a nobleman, mother's a queen;

And Betty's a lady, and wears a gold ring;

And Johnny's a drummer, and drums for the king.

See a pin and pick it up,

All the day you'll have good luck;

See a pin and let it lay,

Bad luck you'll have all the day!

See, saw, sacradown,

Which is the way to London town?

One foot up, the other foot down,

And that is the way to London town.

Shoe the little horse,

And shoe the little mare,

And let the little colt

Run bare, bare, bare.

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye;

Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie;

When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing;

Was not that a dainty dish

To set before the king?

The king was in his counting-house

Counting out his money;

The queen was in the parlor

Eating bread and honey;

The maid was in the garden

Hanging out the clothes,

When along came a blackbird,

And pecked off her nose.

Jenny was so mad,

She didn't know what to do;

She put her finger in her ear,

And cracked it right in two.

Star light, star bright,

First star I see to-night;

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish to-night.

The King of France went up the hill,

With twenty thousand men;

The King of France came down the hill,

And ne'er went up again.

The lion and the unicorn

Were fighting for the crown;

The lion beat the unicorn

All round about the town.

Some gave them white bread,

And some gave them brown,

Some gave them plumcake,

And sent them out of town.

The man in the moon

Came tumbling down,

And asked the way to Norwich;

He went by the south

And burned his mouth

With supping cold pease porridge.

The north wind doth blow,

And we shall have snow,

And what will the robin do then?

Poor thing!

He will sit in a barn,

And to keep himself warm,

Will hide his head under his wing,

Poor thing!

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts,

All on a summer's day.

The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts,

And hid them clean away.

The King of Hearts he missed those tarts,

And beat the Knave right sore,

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts,

And vowed he'd steal no more.

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,

And found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile:

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

There was a little boy went into a barn,

And lay down on some hay;

An owl came out and flew about,

And the little boy ran away.

There was a man and he had naught,

And robbers came to rob him;

He crept up to the chimney top,

And then they thought they had him;

But he got down on t'other side,

And then they could not find him:

He ran fourteen miles in fifteen days,

And never looked behind him.

There was a man in our town,

And he was wondrous wise;

He jumped into a briar bush,

And scratched out both his eyes:

And when he saw his eyes were out,

With all his might and main

He jumped into another bush,

And scratched 'em in again.

There was an old man,

And he had a calf,

And that's half;

He took him out of the stall,

And put him on the wall;

And that's all.

100

There was an old woman, and what do you think?

She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink:

Victuals and drink were the chief of her diet;

Yet this little old woman could never keep quiet.

She went to the baker, to buy her some bread,

And when she came home, her old husband was dead;

She went to the clerk to toll the bell,

And when she came back her old husband was well.

101

There was an old woman lived under a hill,

And if she's not gone, she lives there still.

She put a mouse in a bag and sent it to mill;

The miller he swore by the point of his knife,

He never took toll of a mouse in his life.

102

There was an old woman of Leeds,

Who spent all her time in good deeds;

She worked for the poor,

Till her fingers were sore,

This pious old woman of Leeds!

103

There was an old woman of Norwich,

Who lived upon nothing but porridge!

Parading the town,

She turned cloak into gown!

This thrifty old woman of Norwich.

104

There was an old woman tossed up in a basket

Nineteen times as high as the moon;

Where she was going I couldn't but ask it,

For in her hand she carried a broom.

"Old woman, old woman, old woman," quoth I,

"O whither, O whither, O whither, so high?"

"To brush the cobwebs off the sky!"

"Shall I go with thee?" "Aye, by and by."

105

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe,

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.

She gave them some broth without any bread,

Then whipped them all soundly, and put them to bed.

106

There was an owl lived in an oak,

Wisky, wasky, weedle;

And every word he ever spoke,

Was fiddle, faddle, feedle.

A gunner chanced to come that way,

Wisky, wasky, weedle;

Says he, "I'll shoot you, silly bird,"

Fiddle, faddle, feedle.

107

This is the way the ladies ride;

Tri, tre, tre, tree, tri, tre, tre, tree!

This is the way the ladies ride,

Tri, tre, tre, tree, tri, tre, tre, tree!

This is the way the gentlemen ride;

Gallop-a-trot, gallop-a-trot!

This is the way the gentlemen ride,

Gallop-a-trot-a-trot!

This is the way the farmers ride;

Hobbledy-hoy, hobbledy-hoy!

This is the way the farmers ride,

Hobbledy-hobbledy-hoy!

108

1. This little pig went to market;

2. This little pig stayed at home;

3. This little pig had roast beef;

4. And this little pig had none;

5. This little pig said, "Wee, wee, wee!

I can't find my way home."

109

Three blind mice! see, how they run!

They all ran after the farmer's wife,

Who cut off their tails with the carving knife!

Did you ever see such a thing in your life?

Three blind mice!

110

Three wise men of Gotham

Went to sea in a bowl;

If the bowl had been stronger,

My song would have been longer.

111

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig,

Home again, home again, dancing a jig;

To market, to market, to buy a fat hog,

Home again, home again, jiggety-jog;

To market, to market, to buy a plum bun.

Home again, home again, market is done.

112

Tom, Tom, the piper's son,

Stole a pig and away he run!

The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,

And Tom went roaring down the street!

113

Two-legs sat upon three-legs,

With one-leg in his lap;

In comes four-legs

And runs away with one-leg;

Up jumps two-legs,

Catches up three-legs,

Throws it after four-legs,

And makes him bring one-leg back.

(_One-leg is a leg of mutton;

two-legs, a man; three-legs,

a stool; four-legs, a dog._)

114

The following is another good "tongue twister"

(see No. 77). It is recommended for the little

lisper, and in former days it was recommended

as a sure cure for the hiccoughs.

When a twister a-twisting would twist him a twist,

For twisting a twist three twists he will twist;

But if one of the twists untwists from the twist,

The twist untwisting untwists the twist.

115

"Willy boy, Willy boy, where are you going?

I will go with you, if I may."

"I am going to the meadow to see them a-mowing,

I am going to see them make the hay."

116

No. 116 and the two rhymes following are by

Miss Wilhelmina Seegmiller. (By permission of

the publishers, Rand McNally & Co., Chicago.)

Their presence will allow teachers to compare

some widely and successfully used modern

efforts with the traditional jingles in the

midst of which they are placed.

MILKWEED SEEDS

As white as milk,

As soft as silk,

And hundreds close together:

They sail away,

On an autumn day,

When windy is the weather.

117

AN ANNIVERSARY

Pop! fizz! bang! whizz!

Don't you know what day this is?

Fizz! bang! whizz! pop!

Hurrah for the Fourth! and hippity-hop!

118

TWINK! TWINK!

Twink, twink, twink, twink,

Twinkety, twinkety, twink!

The fireflies light their lanterns,

Then put them out in a wink.

Twink, twink, twink, twink,

They light their light once more,

Then twinkety, twinkety, twink, twink,

They put them out as before.

Nos. 119-146 are in the main the longer nursery

favorites and may somewhat loosely be called

the novels and epics of the nursery as the

former group may be called the lyrics and short

stories. All of them are marked by dramatic

power, a necessary element in all true classics

for children whether in verse or prose. Nos.

119 and 120 are two of the favorite jingles

used in teaching the alphabet. Each letter

suggests a distinct image. In No. 119 the

images are all of actions, and connected by the

direction of these actions upon a single

object. In No. 120 the images are each complete

and independent. Here it may be noticed that

some of the elements of the pictures are

determined by the exigencies of rhyme, as, for

instance, what the archer shot at, and what the

lady had. The originator doubtless expected the

child to see the relation of cause and

consequence between Y and Z.

119

A WAS AN APPLE-PIE

A was an apple-pie;

B bit it;

C cut it;

D dealt it;

E eat it;

F fought for it;

G got it;

H had it;

J joined it:

K kept it;

L longed for it;

M mourned for it;

N nodded at it;

O opened it;

P peeped in it;

Q quartered it;

R ran for it;

S stole it;

T took it;

V viewed it;

W wanted it;

X, Y, Z, and Ampersand (&)

All wished for a piece in hand.

120

TOM THUMB'S ALPHABET

A was an archer, and shot at a frog;

B was a butcher, and kept a bull-dog.

C was a captain, all covered with lace;

D was a drunkard, and had a red face.

Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes · 第 12 / 28 章