A Treasury of Verse for Little Children (page 1/3)

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Friend in the Garden

A woodcut of a frog on a lily-pad. [$]

Initial Letter N

A decorative capital letter “N” with a child sitting inside it, hands on knees; it was used as a drop cap (dropped capital) at the start of a the poem, Snow in Town. [more...] [$]

A Good Thanksgiving

Said Old Gentleman Gay, “On a Thanksgiving Day,
If you want a good time, then give something away.”
So he sent a fat turkey to Shoemaker Price,
And the shoemaker said, “What a big bird! how nice!
And since a good dinner’s before me, I ought
To give poor Widow Lee the small chicken I bought.”

“This fine chicken, oh, see!” said the pleased Widow Lee,
“And the kindness that sent it, how precious to me!
I would like to make some one as happy as I—
I’ll give Washerwoman Biddy my big pumpkin pie.”
“And oh, sure,” Biddy said, “’tis the queen of all pies
Just to look at its yellow face gladdens my eyes.

Now it’s my turn, I think; and a sweet ginger cake
For the motherless Finigan children I’ll bake.”
“A sweet cake, all our own! ’Tis too good to be true!”
Said the Finigan children, Rose, Denny, and Hugh;
“It smells sweet of spice, and we’ll carry a slice
To poor little Lame Jake—who has nothing that’s nice.”

“Oh, I thank you, and thank you!” said little Lame Jake;
“Oh, what beautiful, beautiful, beautiful cake!
And oh, such a big slice! I will save all the crumbs,
And will give ’em to each little sparrow that comes!”
And the sparrows they twittered as if they would say,
Like Old Gentleman Gay, “On a Thanksgiving Day,

If you want a good time, then give something away.”

—Marian Douglas.
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Initial Letter S

A decorative drop-cap (initial letter) “S” from the poem “A Good Thankgiving Day.” A woman carries either a milking yoke or a hockey stick. [more...] [$]

Little Wee Men

The fairy folk climbing a hill made of clouds, and, beneath them, a fairy castle. [$]