Chapter I: WANT to go out in the woods and play

That I am the queen of the fairies to-day; So I’ll gather some stars from the midnight sky (There are plenty to spare in the jewels on high) And I’ll have them set in a crown of gold; For a sceptre a tiger lily I’ll hold; A violet bed will be my throne And the beautiful world will be mine alone.

I’ll make one law my realm to bind, That everybody must just be kind And love all children and flowers and birds And always speak in gentle words. What a happy land will my kingdom be Where hopes are high and hearts are free!

QUIPS AND CRANKS

MY AUNTIE

HOW would you like to have for an auntie Kittie ka dink ka dee ka dantie? Kittie ka dink With frolicsome wink, Kittie ka dink With ruffles of pink, Kittie ka dink,-- Now what do you think Of Kittie ka dink for an auntie?

Kittie ka dink ka dee Is as bright as a bumble bee, Kittie ka dink ka dee, She dresses my dolls for me! Kittie ka dink ka dee,--

If you knew her I’m sure you’d agree That Kittie ka dink With frolicsome wink In ruffles of pink, Is the jolliest kind of an auntie!

THE BEAR HUNTER

IF I should meet a grizzly bear A-roaming from his mountain lair, I’d just get down on hands and knees And growl around among the trees.

Then if my growling didn’t scare That great ferocious grizzly bear, I’d sing a song and at my ease Just try my best the bear to please.

TRYING TO PLAY

O A gentleman dressed in a high top hat Rode on a hobby-horse just like that. “Mr. Man, Mr. Man, O what is the matter?” “Little boy, let me hear no more of your chatter.”

So he pranced and he kicked till his glasses fell off, And he puffed and he choked till it made him cough; Then he stopped and said in his solemn way, “My child, I was merely attempting to play.”

MAGGIE MULDOON

O DOWN at Milpitas there was an old hag Who drove to town with a bobtail nag. She rattled along in a rickety rig, With a red bandana to cover her wig.

When a wheel came off and she tumbled ka-flop, She hobbled away to the blacksmith shop; And the blacksmith said: “O Maggie Muldoon, If you’ll dance me a breakdown I’ll sing you a tune!”

THE BOOBITY BUMPKIN

A BOOBITY bumpity bumpkin Was sent to town with a pumpkin, But he stumbled and tripped As he hippity skipped, And smackety smash went the pumpkin!

FARMER JONES’S GOAT

OLD Farmer Jones had a frisky old goat That wore a long beard and a hairy black coat, With hoofs on its feet and horns on its head, And a sad hungry look on its face while it fed.

Now what do you think was its favorite caper? It would eat Farmer Jones’s weekly Saturday paper; But the diet was more than the goat could endure, So it fed upon sawdust and rags for a cure.

POOR MR. MIDAS

O POOR Mr. Midas did nothing but think Of the sound that his money made,--chink, chink, chink! He filled his pockets, he filled his shoes, But the more he gathered the less he could use.

It weighed on his mind till he scarce slept a wink, And then he would dream of the chink, chink, chink. He filled his boxes, he filled his bed, And so there was nothing to fill but his head.

THREE WISE MEN

THREE wise men sailed away on a bat, But the one who was bald forgot his hat; The one who made music forgot his fife, And the one who was married forgot his wife.

The bat flew straight to the Man in the Moon, And they said, “Kind sir, is it night or noon?” So the Man in the Moon his brain he racked And decided the three wise men were cracked.

A GOBBLER IN TROUBLE

O WHAT would the turkey gobbler do If he got the hiccoughs before he was through With his gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble?

I’m sure that he could never see through the joke If he started to gobble and stopped to choke In his gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble-gobble.

The puffed-out fool would grow red in the face, And the hens would laugh at their lord’s disgrace, At his gobble, hic! gobble, hic! gobble-gobble-gobble!

THE TALE OF A POOR LITTLE WORM

JUST listen to that, Rat-atat-tat! “’Tis a woodpecker,” whispered a worm. As he crouched in a cranny He called to his granny, “Hark hark, hark hark, Rap-a-tap on the bark, That noise makes me shiver and squirm!”

Then a long barbed tongue Right through him was flung, And down in the gizzard he wallowed; It made him grow pale Till he thought of the whale With Jonah inside, Then he shivered and cried: “’Tis a fatal mistake to be swallowed.”

RHYMES FOR TODDLERS

TO PUSSY WHITE

LITTLE white furrykins, Sly pussie purrykins, Snoozing all day by the grate Pinky-nosed kittie cat, Who wouldn’t pity that Snip of a mouse that you ate!

Hittlety skittlety, Mousie squeaked, “Mercy me!”-- Off went his head with a snap; Ere he knew what had jolted him, Kittie had bolted him And stretched herself out for a nap.

CHINA DOLLS

THERE are china cups and china dolls
And Chinamen galore,
All huddled in together
In a little China store.

The china cups are pretty
And the china dolls, O dear,
I wish I had a hundred
Sitting round me now, right here.

But the Chinaman that sells them,
With his slits of eyes askew,
And hair all braided down his back
In such a funny queue!--

If all his dolls should grow and grow
Until like him they grew,
And I should have the care of them,
O dear, what would I do?

DOLLIE’S LULLABY

DOLLIE’S in the cradle
Falling fast asleep;
Hush, little mamma,
Run and take a peep.

Whisper low to dollie:
“Dream of pleasant things,
Fairies in the doll house
A-dance in fairy rings;

“Fairies round the cradle
Flying to and fro,
Singing in the moonlight
Fairy music low.”

Shut are dollie’s eyelids,
Cover up her arm;
Keep the little dollie dear
Safe from every harm.

BABY LIFE

WHAT can little baby do? Clap his hands and coo and coo; Kick and roll and smile and grow,-- That is why we love him so!

LITTLE BROTHER

LITTLE brother full of glee, With dainty hand and dimpled knee, Chubby little laughing boy, Father’s pride and Mother’s joy!

Ringlets gold on shapely head, Smiles that break ere tears have fled, Eyes of blue that open wide, Wondering at the world outside!

Merry spirit, sweetly wild, Why are you, my precious child, Dearer far than any other Loving sister’s little brother?

PLAYING HORSE

HORSE and cart and tinkling lines, Rattling under the passion vines; Up the road and down the lane And round the yard to the door again!

Babe is driver, snap the whip! Watch the turn and don’t you tip. Nero barks as the chickens scatter, Dust is flying and cart-wheels clatter.

Nell, the cook at the kitchen door, Wonders what the noise is for. Round the house on the run they go Till baby calls to the horsie,--“whoa!”

MY DONKEY

MY little Donkey is a dear, We call her Mistress Bunny, Her ears are very long and queer And her voice is O so funny,-- Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!

I saddle her and bridle her And on her back I climb To ride around the Berkeley streets And have a happy time,-- Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!

I tied her with a long, long rope Where she could eat the grass, But O my burro broke her rope And ran away, alas! Haw-he, haw-he, haw-he!

BABY IN THE BARNYARD

BABY with the big blue eyes, Tell me why you look so wise When you watch the kitties play, Or old Billy eating hay.

Do the horses talk to you, Baby with the eyes of blue? Can you tell me what they say When they look at you and neigh?

And the romping kitties, too, When they cry out, mew, mew, mew, Have they secrets, baby dear, Only meant for you to hear?

When the doggie says, bow-wow To the lazy muley-cow, And the cow replies, moo, moo, Are they talking still to you?

And the piggie in her pen, Grunting to the setting hen, Ugh, ugh, ugh, can baby tell What the piggie means to spell?

Lying in her bed at morn, Baby hears a lusty horn Sounding, rook-a-dook-a-doo! And baby laughs as if she knew.

Baby loves them, one and all, And she answers when they call; And they tell her wondrous tales Of the barnyard, hills and dales.

BABY’S GOOD-NIGHT

LITTLE eyes droop in the dim evening light; Wave your hand, little maiden, good-bye, good-night;

Throw a kiss to the doggie--he’s wagging his tail-- And wave to the muley-cow down in the dale.

Hark! hark! she is ringing good-night with her bell;-- Now toss to the kitties a sweet farewell.

Good-night to the birds, in the branches asleep, Good-night to the stars that twinkle and peep;

Good-night to the horn of the moon in the west, And toddle away to your warm little nest.

DOGS