THE COCK-A-DOO-DLE-DOO
: Stories To Tell ChildrenA very little boy made this story up "out of his head," and told it to
his papa. I think you littlest ones will like it; I do.
Once upon a time there was a little boy, and he wanted to be a
cock-a-doo-dle-doo. So he was a cock-a-doo-dle-doo. And he wanted to fly
up into the sky. So he did fly up into the sky. And he wanted to get
wings and a tail So he did get some wings and a tail.
More
-
THE CASTLE OF FORTUNE
One lovely summer morning, just as the sun rose, two travellers started on a journey. They were both strong young men, but one was a lazy fellow and the other was a worker. As the first sunbeams came over the hills, they shone on a great castle ... The Cat and the Mouse
The cat and the mouse Played in the malt-house: The cat bit the mouse's tail off. "Pray, puss, give me my tail." "No," says the cat, "I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow and fetch me some milk." First she leapt, and t... THE CAT AND THE PARROT
Once there was a cat, and a parrot. And they had agreed to ask each other to dinner, turn and turn about: first the cat should ask the parrot, then the parrot should invite the cat, and so on. It was the cat's turn first. Now the cat was very me... THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS
Oliver Wendell Holmes This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, Sails the unshadowed main,-- The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, And coral reefs lie b... THE CHARACTER OF A HAPPY LIFE
Sir Henry Wotton How happy is he born and taught, That serveth not another's will; Whose armor is his honest thought, And simple truth, his utmost skill; Whose passions not his masters are, Whose soul is still prepared for death, Unt... THE CHICKADEE-DEE.
Little darling of the snow, Careless how the winds may blow, Happy as a bird can be, Singing, oh, so cheerily, Chickadee-dee! Chickadee-dee! When the skies are cold and gray, When he trills his happiest lay, Through the clouds he seems to see ... THE CHILD-MIND; AND HOW TO SATISFY IT
"It is the grown people who make the nursery stories," wrote Stevenson, "all the children do is jealously to preserve the text." And the grown person, whether he makes his stories with pen or with tongue, should bring two qualities at least to the... THE CHILDREN OF THE SUN GOD.
No difficulty whatever was experienced in reaching that retreat, and milder prisoner never knew a guard than Ixtli proved himself to be, silently yielding to each impulse lent his arm by Waldo, smiling when, as sometimes happened, he was brought mor... THE CHILDREN'S PARTY.
What a merry, merry rout! See the wee ones dance about! Dickie's leading off the ball; There,--he almost had a fall. Who's his partner in the whirls, --Rosiest of all the girls? But a doll--a DOLL you say; Dancing in that sprightly way? Wel... THE CHRISTMAS CAROL OF THE BIRDS.
Do you know, when we are having such good times at Christmas, what sweet music they have in Norway, that cold country across the sea? One day in the year the simple peasants who live there make the birds very happy, so that they sing, of their own... THE CHRISTMAS MASQUERADE
On Christmas Eve the Mayor's stately mansion presented a beautiful appearance. There were rows of different coloured wax candles burning in every window, and beyond them one could see the chandeliers of gold and crystal blazing with light. The f... THE CIRCUS
Hey, there! Hoop-la! the circus is in town! Have you seen the elephant? Have you seen the clown? Have you seen the dappled horse gallop round the ring? Have you seen the acrobats on the dizzy swing? Have you seen the tumbling men tumble up and do... THE CITIES OF REFUGE.
Revenge is contrary to the teaching of Jesus Christ, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him," says the Saviour; but among the Israelites and other eastern nations a different practice prevailed. If one slew another, the kinsman of him that was slain fel... THE CITY MOUSE AND THE GARDEN MOUSE
The city mouse lives in a house;-- The garden mouse lives in a bower, He's friendly with the frogs and toads, And sees the pretty plants in flower. The city mouse eats bread and cheese;-- The garden mouse eats what he can; We will not gru... THE CLOUD
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 little Cloud could see the poor people of the earth working and suf... THE COCK-A-DOO-DLE-DOO
A very little boy made this story up "out of his head," and told it to his papa. I think you littlest ones will like it; I do. Once upon a time there was a little boy, and he wanted to be a cock-a-doo-dle-doo. So he was a cock-a-doo-dle-doo. And... THE COUNTRY MOUSE AND THE CITY MOUSE
Once a little mouse who lived in the country invited a little mouse from the city to visit him. When the little City Mouse sat down to dinner he was surprised to find that the Country Mouse had nothing to eat except barley and grain. "Really," ... THE CRATCHITS' CHRISTMAS DINNER
Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present stood in the city streets on Christmas morning, where (for the weather was severe) the people made a rough but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping the snow from the pavement in front of th... THE CUNNING WOLF
Once upon a time the people in a certain town went out into the woods for a holiday. They took baskets full of good things to eat. But when noontime came they ate all the meat they had brought with them, not leaving any for supper. "I will get ... THE DAGDA'S HARP
You know, dears, in the old countries there are many fine stories about things which happened so very long ago that nobody knows exactly how much of them is true. Ireland is like that. It is so old that even as long ago as four thousand years it h... THE DAWN DANCE
What do you think I saw to-day when I arose at dawn? Blue Wrens and Yellow-tails dancing on the lawn! Bobbing here, and bowing there, gossiping away, And how I wished that you were there to see the merry play! But you were snug abed, my boy, blan... THE DEATH OF SAMSON.
Samson's birth was foretold by an angel. He was to grow up a Nazarite, forbidden to drink strong drink, neither was his head to be shaved. His strength was very great; but his marriage was sinful, and his doings with the idolatrous Philistines ter... THE DEFEAT OF THE MIDIANITES.
Large numbers of the Israelites gathered around Gideon, prepared to fight against the Midianites, who were encamped in a valley, "like grasshoppers for multitude." How Gideon's host was reduced till only three hundred men remained, and the wonderf... THE DIAMOND AND THE DEWDROP
A costly Diamond, that had once sparkled in a lady's ring, lay in a field amid tall grasses and oxeye daisies. Just above it, was a big Dewdrop that clung timidly to a nodding grass-blade. Overhead, the blazing sun shone in all his noonday gl... THE DOG AND THE SHADOW
A Dog, crossing a little rivulet with a piece of meat in his mouth, saw his own shadow represented in the clear mirror of the limpid stream; and, believing it to be another dog, who was carrying a larger piece of meat, he could not forbear catchin... THE DOLLS AND THE OTHER DOLLS.
"Mamma," little Nellie asked, "is it right to give away things that have been given to you?" Her mamma replied that it might be quite right sometimes; and she said, "But I should feel sorry if I had made a little friend a present she did not valu... THE DOLLS' CHRISTMAS PARTY.
It was the week before Christmas, and the dolls In the toy-shop played together all night. The biggest one was from Paris. One night she said, "We ought to have a party before Santa Claus carries us away to the little girls. I can dance, and I w... THE DREAM
Upon a summer's afternoon it happened that Baldur the Bright and Bold, beloved of men and Æsir, found himself alone in his palace of Broadblink. Thor was walking low down among the valleys, his brow heavy with summer heat; Frey and Gerda sported ... THE DROVERS
Out across the spinifex, out across the sand, Out across the saltbush to Never Never land That's the way the drovers go, jogging down the track-- That's the way the drovers go. But how do they come back? Back across the saltbush from Never Ne... THE DRUMMER OF THE WOODS
Tommy Fox stopped short and listened. It was early spring, and the snow was still deep on the sides of Blue Mountain. _Thump--thump--thump, thump, thump, thump! Rub--rub--rub--rub, r-r-r- r-r-r-r!_ If you had heard that sound you would have said...