Kindergarten Read Aloud Banquet

Nursery Songs for December

I Saw Three Ships



The Mulberry Bush



The North Wind and the Robin



Dance a Baby

A Child's Garden of Verses

North-west Passage

1. Good-Night

When the bright lamp is carried in,

The sunless hours again begin;

O'er all without, in field and lane,

The haunted night returns again.


Now we behold the embers flee

About the firelit hearth; and see

Our faces painted as we pass,

Like pictures, on the window-glass.


Must we to bed indeed? Well then,

Let us arise and go like men,

And face with an undaunted tread

The long black passage up to bed.


Farewell, O brother, sister, sire!

O pleasant party round the fire!

The songs you sing, the tales you tell,

Till far to-morrow, fare ye well!

2. Shadow March

All around the house is the jet-black night;

It stares through the window-pane;

It crawls in the corners, hiding from the light,

And it moves with the moving flame.


Now my little heart goes a-beating like a drum,

With the breath of the Bogie in my hair;

And all around the candle the crooked shadows come,

And go marching along up the stair.


The shadow of the balusters, the shadow of the lamp,

The shadow of the child that goes to bed—

All the wicked shadows coming tramp, tramp, tramp,

With the black night overhead.

3. In Port

Last, to the chamber where I lie

My fearful footsteps patter nigh,

And come from out the cold and gloom

Into my warm and cheerful room.


There, safe arrived, we turn about

To keep the coming shadows out,

And close the happy door at last

On all the perils that we past.


Then, when mamma goes by to bed,

She shall come in with tip-toe tread,

And see me lying warm and fast

And in the land of Nod at last.

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Week 19 Reddy Fox Disobeys How They Went to the Temple (Part 1 of 2) The Rich Goose The Little Spider's First Web Inside the Garden Gate The Bean-Pole Story
The Uncle Sam Story 		Elisha, the Man of God
If All the Seas Were One Sea Bah, Bah, Black Sheep Pancake Day Rock-a-Bye, Baby A Plum Pudding Humpty Dumpty Forehead, Eyes, Cheeks, Nose, Mouth, and Chin
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Old Old Tales Retold  by Frederick Richardson
[Illustration]

dropcap image N old woman found a crooked sixpence while sweeping her door-yard. "What shall I do with this sixpence?" she said. "I will go to the market and buy a pig."

Then the old woman went to the market and bought a pig. On her way home she came to a stile and then the pig would not go over the stile.

"Pig, pig, get over the stile,

Or I can not get home tonight."

But the pig would not.

Then she went a little further and met a dog; and she said to the dog:

"Dog, dog, bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the dog would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a stick; and she said to the stick:

"Stick, stick, beat the dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the stick would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a fire; and she said to the fire:

"Fire, fire, burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

But the fire would not.

Then she went a little farther and met some water; and she said to the water:

"Water, water, quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

But the water would not.

Then she went a little farther and met an ox; and she said to the ox:

"Ox, ox, drink water;

Water won't quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the ox would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a butcher; and she said to the butcher:

"Butcher, butcher pen ox;

Ox won't drink water;

Water won't quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the butcher would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a rope; and she said to the rope:

"Rope, rope, whip butcher;

Butcher won't pen ox;

Ox won't drink water;

Water won't quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

But the rope would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a rat; and she said to the rat:

"Rat, rat, gnaw rope;

Rope won't whip butcher;

Butcher won't pen ox;

Ox won't drink water;

Water won't quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the rat would not.

Then she went a little farther and met a cat; and she said to the cat:

"Cat, cat, bite rat;

Rat won't gnaw rope;

Rope won't whip butcher;

Butcher won't pen ox;

Ox won't drink water;

Water won't quench fire;

Fire won't burn stick;

Stick won't beat dog;

Dog won't bite pig;

Pig won't get over the stile;

And I can not get home tonight."

[Illustration]

But the cat said to her, "If you will get me a saucer of milk, I will bite the rat." Then the old woman gave a wisp of hay to a cow that was near, and the cow gave her a saucer of milk. Then the old woman gave the saucer of milk to the cat and this is what happened:

The cat began to bite the rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to whip the butcher; the butcher began to pen the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the pig got over the stile; and the old woman got home that night.


[Illustration]