Edith Wilhelmina Lawson

“ I’ll sing you a song.
’Tis about a little bird.
He sat on a tree,
And he sang to me,
And I never said a word. Eliza Lee Follen
[Pg 93]
[Pg 94]
Why Some Birds Hop and Others Walk
A little boy said to a little bird, “Stop,
And tell me the reason you go with a hop.
Why don’t you walk, as boys do, and men,
One foot at a time, like a dove or a hen?” ”

“ My Pony
My pony has four curving hoofs so tiny and so trim,
You’d be surprised to see how fast they trot along with him.
He has a flowing mane and tail, a shining coat of hair,
And when I get upon his back, he takes me everywhere.
He loves to eat the sugar that I bring him in my hand,
He loves to trot and gallop down the street at my command.
He loves to rub his nose against my shoulder, for you see,
I love my pony dearly and I know that he loves me. Alice C. D. Riley from Lilts and Lyrics
Used by permission of Clayton F. Summy Co.
[Pg 112]
My Cousin’s Pony
My cousin has a pet pony. ”

“ I know one dog that carries a package of meat in his mouth.
Another dog tries to catch a ball.
When a boy throws a ball, the puppy runs after it.
One naughty dog chases rabbits and squirrels.
Spot pulls a little wagon. ”

“ We feed him toast and milk.
He is still a puppy.
Sometimes he is very naughty.
He even goes into our beautiful pansy bed. [Pg 25]
But he is slowly learning how to behave.
His name is Pal.
When he grows up, he will be a big, beautiful collie.
“Doggy, You Must Promise”
Oh, doggy, you must promise
(And mind your word you keep) ,
Not once to tease the little lambs,
Or run among the sheep;
And then the little yellow chicks
That play upon the grass,
You must not even wag your tail
To scare them as you pass.
[Pg 26]
A Queer Mother Dog
I live on a farm, and own a dog named Happy. ”

“ The reading material is fresh and attractive—a merit that will be appreciated, since so many books offer only repetition of folk and fairy tales. While commendable in themselves, these prove tiresome to the children because of sameness of content. ”

“ When he touches them, the chickens say “Cut-cut, cut-a-cut!”
[Pg 65]
A Queer Hen
In a city in Maine there lives a bus driver.
This bus driver has a pet hen that is very tame.
When the hen hears the driver taking the bus out of the barn, she runs to the car.
When the driver takes his seat at the wheel, the hen flies up and sits beside him.
As the driver goes from town to town, the hen stays with her kind friend.
She stays with him all day long. [Pg 66]
When the bus driver returns home at night, the hen flies down to the ground. ”

“ Our Pets
Boys and girls, do you like pets?
Have you any pets?
Thirteen children in our room have pets.
Marion has a little kitten.
Fred has a cat, a little dog, and eight puppies.
A little puppy is Helen’s pet.
Edwin has a mother cat and a baby kitten.
Leslie’s father has a fox and a little rabbit. ”

“ But he had time for just a mouthful. [Pg 116]
For as soon as he started to eat Jean got off the horse and led him to the barn.
I think Beauty is like some children.
He gets so hungry that he can’t wait for his dinner. ”

“ Still later, there were three baby birds in the nest.
We liked to watch the woodpeckers feed the baby birds. [Pg 87]
One day the birds disappeared, and the nest was empty.
Now I am hoping that next year there will be another nest in our cherry tree.
The Building of the Nest
They’ll come to the apple tree—Robin and all the rest—
When the orchard branches are fair to see,
In the snow of the blossoms dressed;
And the prettiest thing in the world will be
The building of the nest.
[Pg 88]
How We Help the Birds
In the winter time it is very cold. ”

“ Norman has a pet cat.
Eight little chickens are Lucile’s pets.
The children love their pets.
They try to take good care of their pets.
We are going to tell you about our pets.
We shall tell you about other pets, too.
We hope that you will enjoy reading about them.
[Pg 11]
[Pg 12]
A Little Dog
I have a little dog,
With soft, long hair that curls,
And bright, black, sparkling eyes—
And he loves little girls.
He never barks or bites,
His temper is so mild,
And he dearly loves to play
With every little child.
[Pg 13]
My Dog
My dog plays with me. ”

“ But we still have many baby chickens.
Mother and I feed the chickens.
When the chickens were smaller, we gave them milk and oatmeal.
Now we feed them corn.
We throw the corn on the ground. [Pg 59]
When the chickens see us, they come running to the place where we are standing.
They are always glad to get something to eat.
At night the little chicks cuddle under the mother hen’s wings.
The Clucking Hen
The clucking hen sat on her nest—
The nest was in the hay,
And warm and snug beneath her breast
A dozen white eggs lay.
[Pg 60]
My Pet Hen
I have a pet hen. ”

“ The theme is one of universal interest to child life, therefore, A Pet Reader will entertain as well as instruct, primary children. A teacher sometimes has to inspire an interest in the subject. But the interest in pets does not have to be created—it is already present. ”

“ A Pet Reader is an outgrowth of group and individual oral composition work in a primary classroom. The stories, based upon suggestions from children and upon fact and observation, have been adapted to the child’s interests and mental capacity. ”

“ The Pussy Cat
A pussy cat came to our door,
That we had never seen before.
He was all cold and wet and thin,
So Mother went and brought him in.
And now he lives with us, and he
Is just as happy as can be—
All round, and warm, and smooth, and fat.
I love that little pussy cat. Edith Ballinger Price
[Pg 45]
The Kitten’s Food
All kittens must have milk to drink.
I know one kitty that eats fish.
Another one likes salmon.
John’s kitten eats potatoes and gravy.
One pet kitten eats oatmeal.
A kitten named Teddy likes ice cream.
My kitten likes bread and milk.
She likes meat very much. ”

“ My grandfather has a little pan that grandmother gave him.
He puts water into this pan.
The chickens drink the water.
Every day grandfather goes to the corn-crib to get corn.
He feeds the corn to the chickens.
My little cousin likes to play with grandmother’s chickens. ”

“ The birds always find the crumbs.
You may be sure that they eat them, too. [Pg 89]
In the summer time it is often hot and dry.
The birds are warm and thirsty.
So, to help them we put water into a pan.
Then the birds find water to drink.
Sometimes they bathe in the water.
They splash around and have a good time.
We can help the birds both in summer and in winter.
In winter we should give the birds some crumbs to eat.
In summer we should give them water.
[Pg 90]
Carrier Pigeons
I think these birds are called carrier pigeons because they carry letters. ”

“ He will not sell him.
He always tries to give Teddy the best of care.
[Pg 114]
Jean’s Riding Horse
Jean is eighteen years old and lives on a large farm.
She is my cousin, and she owns a fine riding horse.
She calls her horse Beauty.
Beauty has white legs, a white spot on his head and another white spot near his tail.
One August day Jean dressed in a pretty riding suit and went for a ride.
When she came home, I was standing near the gate.
I saw Jean ride toward the barn.
[Pg 115]
When she stopped a moment, the horse helped himself to some grass from the lawn. ”

“ We keep the chickens in a barn.
When the chickens were very young they looked like fluffy balls. [Pg 58]
Every day they go out in the yard.
The mother hen takes care of them.
We lost some of our chickens.
Some were weak and died.
The rats killed some of the chickens. ”

“ Last spring Aunt Minnie had a lily pond made in her lawn.
The pond is four feet deep and is filled with city water.
The sides of the pond are made of cement.
Beautiful water lilies grow in this pond.
Some of the lilies are pure white, others are rose colored.
There are also many buds that will soon open and become lovely water lilies. [Pg 157]
Fifteen fat gold fish have their home in this beautiful place. ”

“ Bird,
Pray tell me, who are you?”
And all the answer that he heard
Was, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
[Pg 62]
Grandmother’s Chickens
My grandmother has some chickens.
One chicken looks so funny!
That is because he has not many feathers.
Grandfather helps grandmother take care of her chickens.
Every day my grandfather goes out to hunt for eggs.
Sometimes he finds eight eggs.
He finds them in the chicken house.
When grandfather goes into the hen house, the hens become frightened.
[Pg 63]
[Pg 64]
They flap their wings, and fly to the other end of the house. ”

“ Mother unfastens the hooks.
Then she lifts off the top.
The canary hops upon the swing.
Sometimes he flies around the room.
But he always comes back to the cage.
My mother removes the paper from the bottom of the cage.
Next, she gets some newspaper.
She cuts it to fit the cage.
[Pg 75]
She always puts fresh sand on the bottom of the cage.
She cleans the bird’s dishes, too.
She puts fresh water into one dish.
She puts seed into the other dish.
Then she hangs the cage on the hook near the window.
[Pg 76]
My Grandmother’s Canary
My grandmother has five pet canaries. ”

“ He was a big cat.
One day he was in the house.
I opened the door.
The cat went out-of-doors. [Pg 53]
After a while, he wanted to come back into the house.
He mewed and scratched at the door.
So I opened the door and let him in.
I was surprised because he had a rat in his mouth.
The rat was already dead.
But the cat wanted us to see the rat that he had caught.
I think the cat was proud of what he had done.
The Ways of a Cat
See the kitten, how she starts,
Crouches, stretches, paws, and darts! William Wordsworth
[Pg 54]
The Cat and the Dog
One Sunday we saw a big cat climb up a tree. ”

“ After the hand-organ man had played some lively music, the monkey collected pennies from the people who were listening.
He always brought the pennies to his master.
The monkey did many tricks. [Pg 149]
My mother and her playmates were always sorry when the hand-organ man went away.
I wish I could see a hand-organ man and a monkey sometime soon again. ”

“ One day one of the rabbits ran away.
My mother told me she saw him go under the porch.
A friend named Alex crawled under the porch and got the rabbit.
Then we put Bunny back into his own house.
My rabbits sniff in such a funny way.
Now I can sniff like a rabbit too.
I call my rabbits “Soldier Rabbits,” because a soldier gave them to me.
[Pg 125]
[Pg 126]
The Squirrels and the Gun
Five little squirrels sitting on a tree,
This one says, “What do I see?”
This one says, “I see a gun!”
This one says, “Come, let’s run!” ”

“ One day I heard Happy barking in the field. [Pg 28]
When I came near, I found that she was barking because the rabbits had disappeared.
Happy missed them very much, and for many days she seemed lonesome without her baby rabbits.
Now, was not Happy a queer mother dog?
One Little Dog
Four little doggies sit in a row—
Bow-wow, bow-wow-wow, all of them go.
Three little dogs can add to the fun,
Two little dogs are better than one,
But one little dog is better than none.
[Pg 29]
Spot
When I go to school, my dog Spot follows me. ”

“ All these crumbs I saved for you.
[Pg 84]
A Bird House
My cousin made a bird house.
I liked it so well that I asked him to make one for me.
My cousin made a bird house for me, too.
It took a long time to finish it.
After it was finished, my cousin brought it to our home.
Then my father put the house on the branch of a tree.
One day I saw a wren fly into the house.
Oh, how glad I was!
Now many birds seem to enjoy the bird house.
[Pg 85]
The Woodpecker’s Nest
We have an old cherry tree in our back yard. ”