Carolyn Verhoeff

“ Whispered the butterfly,
"For winter's coming very fast,
And so good-by, good-by."
The little caterpillar thought: "How could I possibly turn into a butterfly? I have seen other caterpillars tie themselves to twigs, but they always seemed very foolish to me."
However, that little caterpillar wanted more than anything else in the world to become a butterfly, so he decided to try. He crawled slowly up the tree until he found a branch that suited him exactly. Then he selected a twig and spun about it a soft resting place of silk. ”

“ The stars were just beginning to show themselves in the dark blue sky, when Mother and Johnnie Jones sat down by the window to watch for Father. Mother and Johnnie Jones loved the stars. Almost every evening they sat and looked up at them. Sometimes they tried to count them, but they never could, because there were so very many. Often, too, they could see the bright, round moon. Johnnie Jones said that a queer, fat little man lived in the moon, who winked and bowed whenever little boys looked at him. To be polite, Johnnie Jones always returned the winks and bows. ”

“ The ideal has been to deal with the ordinary events of daily life in a manner which will reveal their normal values to the child. There is the friendly policeman who finds the lost boy; the heroic fireman who comes to the rescue of the burning home; the little neighbor who would not play "fair;" the little boy who had to learn to roll his hoop, and to care for the typical baby brother who pulled his hair; there are the animals who entered into the joys and sorrows of the Jones family,—altogether, very real animals, children, and "grown-ups," learning in common the lessons of social life. ”

“ Before Johnnie Jones could stop him, he seized the whip and with it gave Fanny a sharp cut. The little pony had never before been whipped, and was so surprised and hurt, that she began to run as fast as ever she could. Bump! Bump! She dragged the cart over rocks and stones so fast that the little boys were almost thrown out on the road.
Johnnie Jones was just as surprised as Fanny.
"Give me that whip," he said to Charley. "I don't allow anyone to use it on my pony. You've hurt her and made her run away. Give me the reins. I will never again let you drive." ”

“ It was quite a while before the toys, and candy, and ornaments, were safely packed in the sleigh, but at last all was in readiness, and away they went.
After a long, beautiful ride over the hard snow, with the moon and stars shining up in the sky, they reached the big house.
"Are all the children asleep?" Father asked two men who were waiting for them at the door.
The men answered yes, and Father whispered to Johnnie Jones: "We must be very quiet, Santa Claus, that we may not waken anybody." ”

“ Sarah explained; "we can't buy valentines, and we can't make valentines, so we shall just have to be valentines!"
"Now how in the world can we be valentines?" Tom asked her.
"We'll dress in our Sunday clothes," she answered. "We'll cut hearts out of paper and pin them all over us. Then we'll ask Mother to pin a paper envelope on each of us, and address it to one of the children. When we are ready we'll ring the door bell of that child's house, and when he opens the door, we'll speak mottoes, and all sorts of rhymes. Won't the children laugh?" ”

“ Johnnie Jones was surprised. "Well, I didn't know that," he said. "Please tell me how."
"Whenever people give Christmas presents to those they love, they are a sort of Santa Claus," Mother told him. "But this year you may be a real Santa Claus, if you like, with a real pack of toys, and you may fill some real stockings belonging to some real children, this coming Christmas Eve." ”

“ Mother dear, tell me all about it, quick as a wink," begged Johnnie Jones, clapping his hands with delight.
"I thought you would be pleased," Mother answered. "Father knows of a large house in which ever so many children live who have never hung up their stockings. I suppose no one has thought to tell Santa Claus about them, and their fathers and mothers are very poor. Father and I want to make them have a bright, happy Christmas this year, and he has told them, each one, to be sure to hang up stockings on Christmas Eve for a Santa Claus to fill. ”

“ One day she saw them coming. She clapped her hands with joy and ran to meet them. The king and queen were as happy as she, and after they had greeted her, and bade the prince good-by, they all three rode away home. The princess sat in front of her father on his horse, because he could not bear to have her out of his arms. After travelling back through the forest they reached the palace at last.
"'Home is the best place in the world,' said the happy little princess.
"'Home is the best place in the world,' cooed the happy little pigeon."
Johnnie Jones lay back in Mother's arms. ”

“ Johnnie Jones ran out into the yard to play. He saw Sammy Smith, Elizabeth, and Ned across the street, and called them. "I want to show you something," he said.
When they came, he led them to the kitchen and showed them the preserves.
"I should like to have some of it," said Ned,—"may I?"
"We made it to use in the winter," Johnnie Jones explained, "when there isn't any fresh fruit."
"I'd like some now on a piece of bread." Ned insisted.
"You said one jar of preserves was yours; give us each a taste," begged Sammy Smith. ”

“ Before children are enabled by their experience to discriminate between the imaginary and the actual world, they make no distinction between the story of real life and the fairy tale. During this early period a story relating the most ordinary events of every-day life is accepted in the same spirit, and may provoke as much or as little wonder, as the story dealing with the most marvelous happenings of the supernatural world. For to the child at this stage of development it is no more wonderful that trees and animals should converse in the language of men than that a little boy should do so. ”

“ Tom turned the crank again, and this time she danced.
"Let me wind it," begged Johnnie Jones, who was very much pleased. He did, and the valentine said:
"Roses red and violets blue,
Sugar is sweet and so are you."
Mother joined the children in the hall, and was delighted with the valentine, which each one wound up until it had said all the rhymes that Sarah knew, and had danced until she was tired. Then the doll changed into a little girl for a while, and she had some milk and cookies with the other children.
"We shall have to go now," Tom said at last, looking out of the window. ”

“ Where are the other children?"
"I suppose their fathers wouldn't let them come," answered Johnnie Jones; "and you shouldn't coast across the pond. My father just told me that it isn't safe, because the ice is beginning to break."
"Oh! it is perfectly safe," Ned replied, "because we have been over it several times. The coasting is better fun to-day than ever before, and there are no children to block the way. Come and try it."
"I wish I might," Johnnie Jones answered. He sat on his sled and watched the older boys coast safely across, and run gaily back, waving their hands to him. ”

“ It will not be very long, little son, and then how happy we'll be, you and Father and I!"
"At first the baby will be too small and helpless to play, and will need his big brother to take care of him so that he may grow tall and strong. Then, by and by, he will be able to run about and talk, and play with you. But always, always, he will need you to help him, and teach him, and care for him."
After that evening, when Mother had whispered the beautiful secret to him, Johnnie Jones would ask her each day: "Will our baby wake up and come tomorrow?" ”

“ The stories of Johnnie Jones were not premeditated but grew in response to daily requests for "more about Johnnie Jones." They are the record of a most ordinary little boy, good as can be to-day, forgetting to obey to-morrow; a life history in which many other little lives are reflected in the old, old process of helping the child to adapt himself to the standards of society. ”

“ A child needs not only the touch of the wonder-working wand which transports him to a land of fascinating unrealities, but also the artistic story which reflects the every-day experiences of real life ”

“ Johnnie Jones said, "do you think they'll come soon?"
"Listen!" Mother answered.
Then Johnnie Jones heard a sound that made him clap his hands with joy. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Galloping down the street came the splendid big fire-horses drawing the hook-and-ladder. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Down the street came the fire-engine, the hose carriage, and the salvage corps wagon. ”

“ The old, old stories of fairies and elves, of giants and dwarfs, of genii, princes, and knights with their wonder-working wands, rings and swords, will never grow threadbare; while the spiritual, artistic and literary value of these stories in the life of child-imagination can never be overestimated. Enchanting and valuable as they are, however, they should not blind us to the need for standard realistic stories of equal literary and poetic merit. ”

“ He saw only the personal experience in the common reality and recognized it with joy. When through similar stories of daily life a child learns to know that his experiences constitute the common lot, his first feeling of surprise gives place to a greater joy, and sympathy is born. ”

“ However, a boatman at the boat-house saw Johnnie Jones fall, and he ran as fast as possible, towards the dock.
Meantime Johnnie Jones sank down into the water, and came up to the surface again. The brave little fellow remembered what to do. He closed his mouth, and holding one hand over his nose, he paddled with the other, until he was able to grasp the dock, against which the wind was blowing him. He held on bravely, never opening his mouth to cry, nor taking his hand from his face. ”

“ After she had bathed and bandaged the leg and arm, and made Johnnie Jones comfortable, she brought his lunch up to him, and while he was eating, told him this story:
Once, a long, long time ago, there lived a man whose name has been forgotten. He lived with other men and their families out in the pasture lands, and there he tended the sheep. Now a great many wolves lived near by, which often tried to steal into the fold and carry off the sheep. Everyone kept a close watch for these wolves, and when any person saw one he would cry out, "wolf! wolf!" ”

“ There wasn't a child in that neighborhood who was not fond of Johnnie Jones, but since he had become a cry-baby none of them cared to play with him, because he would often spoil the best game by stopping to cry. No one enjoys playing with a tearful boy or girl. ”

“ Every day while the other children were decorating their hoops or were playing together, Johnnie Jones would practise all alone in the back yard, where no one could see him. He tried so hard that at last he succeeded in rolling his hoop from the porch to the gate without letting it fall a single time. He was greatly encouraged then, but he had to continue practising, because he could not even yet guide the hoop very well, and he could not turn corners at all.
When Saturday came, he went to the park to watch the first procession. ”

“ Little brother was a merry baby with a smile for everyone. Soon he was old enough to be on the floor with Johnnie Jones, and to build houses of blocks, and play with the toys. He learned to walk very early, when he was less than a year old. Then indeed, he kept the family busy, guarding him from harm.
One day he found the sharp scissors, which Johnnie Jones had to take away very quickly before he could cut himself. Another day he tried to eat a paper of pins, and Johnnie Jones had to run very fast to reach him in time. ”

“ It may come any minute and Father is too busy to put it into the coal-house. Mother can't attend to it because she must finish some sewing for a lady, so there is no one but Sarah and me. We are afraid we can't put it all away before night, and if it isn't locked up in the coal-house this evening, something may happen to it while we are asleep, and then we shouldn't have any coal to keep us warm in the winter."
"Why don't you hire a man to put it away for you?" asked Johnnie Jones.
"We haven't money enough," Tom answered. ”

“ You can't be Mother all the time."
"Well, if you won't let me play my way, I won't play at all," said Elizabeth, and ran on until she came to Sarah's house.
Sarah, Tom and Ned were jumping rope, and they called out to Elizabeth: "You can't play with us unless you will turn the rope part of the time."
"I don't like to turn, I like to jump," Elizabeth complained. But when she realized that she would not be allowed to jump until she first turned the rope for the others, she left these children too, and went next door to visit Sammy Smith. ”

“ Mother said, when she had heard of the children's difficulty, "Sarah and Tom need friends to help them, so why don't you, in your overalls, and Ned, Susie, and the other children in theirs, take your wagons and wheelbarrows, and spend the afternoon helping with the coal? A dozen pairs of hands, even if they are small, can accomplish a great deal of work."
Mother sent her hired man to see that the coal-house was ready for the coal, while Johnnie Jones hurried off to collect the children. ”