Kindergarten Read Aloud Banquet

Nursery Songs for January

A Child's Garden of Verses

Keepsake Mill

Over the borders, a sin without pardon,
Breaking the branches and crawling below,
Out through the breach in the wall of the garden,
Down by the banks of the river, we go.

Here is a mill with the humming of thunder,
Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under—
Marvellous places, though handy to home!

Sounds of the village grow stiller and stiller,
Stiller the note of the birds on the hill;
Dusty and dim are the eyes of the miller,
Deaf are his ears with the moil of the mill.

Years may go by, and the wheel in the river
Wheel as it wheels for us, children, to-day,
Wheel and keep roaring and foaming for ever
Long after all of the boys are away.

Home from the Indies and home from the ocean,
Heroes and soldiers we all will come home;
Still we shall find the old mill wheel in motion,
Turning and churning that river to foam.

You with the bean that I gave when we quarrelled,
I with your marble of Saturday last,
Honoured and old and all gaily apparelled,
Here we shall meet and remember the past.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Week 47	The School in the Old Orchard	The Day They Drove the Milk Cart	The Old Woman and Her Pig	The Ruffed Grouse's Story	Pattie's New Dress	The Sunday Story	Gideon, the Soldier
Week 47	Boy and Girl	Winter	When	Twinkle, Twinkle	Sing, Sing	Pease Porridge	London Bridge

Old Old Tales Retold by Frederick Richardson [Illustration]

dropcap image NCE upon a time a curly-tailed pig said to his friend the sheep, "I am tired of living in a pen. I am going to build me a house on the hill."

"Oh! may I go with you?" said the sheep.

"What can you do to help?" asked the pig.

"I can haul the logs for the house," said the sheep.

"Good!" said the pig. "You are just the one I want. You may go with me."

As the pig and the sheep walked and talked about their new house, they met a goose.

"Good morning, pig," said the goose. "Where are you going this fine morning?"

"We are going to the hill to build us a house. I am tired of living in a pen," said the pig.

"Quack! quack!" said the goose. "May I go with you?"

"What can you do to help?" asked the pig.

"I can gather moss, and stuff it into the cracks to keep out the rain."

"Good!" said the pig and the sheep. "You are just the one we want. You may go with us."

As the pig and the sheep and the goose walked and talked about their new house, they met a rabbit.

"Good morning, rabbit," said the pig.

"Good morning," said the rabbit. "Where are you going this fine morning?"

"We are going to the hill to build us a house. I am tired of living in a pen," said the pig.

"Oh!" said the rabbit, with a quick little jump. "May I go with you?"

"What can you do to help?" asked the pig.

"I can dig holes for the posts of your house," said the rabbit.

"Good!" said the pig and the sheep and the goose. "You are just the one we want. You may go with us."

As the pig and the sheep and the goose and the rabbit walked and talked about their new house, they met a cock.

"Good morning, cock," said the pig.

"Good morning," said the cock. "Where are you going this fine morning?"

"We are going to build us a house. I am tired of living in a pen," said the pig.

The cock flapped his wings three times. "Oh, Oh, Oh, O-O-Oh!" he crowed. "May I go with you?"

"What can you do to help?" asked the pig.

"I can be your clock," said the cock. "I will crow every morning and waken you at daybreak."

"Good!" said the pig and the sheep and the goose and the rabbit. "You are just the one we want. You may go with us."

Then they all went happily to the hill.

The pig found the logs for the house. The sheep hauled them together. The rabbit dug the holes for the posts. The goose stuffed moss in the cracks to keep out the rain. And every morning the cock crowed to waken the workers.

When at last the house was finished, the cock flew to the very top of it, and crowed and crowed and crowed.