Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I (of 17) Fun and Thought for Little Folk

III

The section opens with the end of a cumulative “Go-Sleep” tale, as Baby Ray and his animal friends gather on the porch to confirm the baby is asleep. It then follows Mr. and Mrs. Squeaky, mice who make their home in a shoe, using a toe hole as a door and a higher hole as a window. They raise tiny pink baby mice, and Mrs. Squeaky jokes she is like the old woman who lived in a shoe, until little Maggie spots the four older mice peeping out the shoe’s toe hole and finds the family hiding in a dark corner. Maggie promises to never reveal their home to anyone, not even her brother Johnnie or her kitty, keeping their secret until she shares the story years later. Next is L. Waldo Lockling’s tale of an obedient pig sent by his mother to market for milk for his father’s supper. Joined by his farm friends Bossie the calf, Billie the goat, Rover the dog, and Tabby the cat—all claiming they love milk—the group reaches the market, where each sips the milk, leaving the pig with an empty pail. A farmer arrives with a fresh pail of milk, so the whole group enjoys supper together. The chapter then shares bedtime verses: Lucy Fitch Perkins’ “Baby’s Paradise” describing a dreamland for babies, a playful poem about a kitten refusing to wait for a face wash, Uncle Ned’s poem listing how a cow, cat, dog, and horse will care for a three-year-old girl, a “Funny Family” poem about a girl with spotted pets and a dotted dress, and the “Little by Little” story of Charley, who shovels a snow path one shovelful at a time, earning a blue sled from his father for his work. A note explains cumulative, repetitive stories help young children memorize and engage with tales, before the cumulative rhyme “The House That Jack Built” begins, building layer by layer from the house to the farmer sowing his corn, ending mid-phrase at “Giant Thunder Bones.”

Giant Thunder Bones

The imposing Giant Thunder Bones owns a sprawling castle, where a small, anxious Dwarf guards its halls and keeps its records. The Dwarf relies on a tireless Gnome with a thick gray beard, who digs for glittering gems day and night to earn his approval. One afternoon, the Princess of Wandeltreg plays a game of mumblepeg on the castle grounds when the eager Gnome spots her, captures her to win the Dwarf’s favor, and locks her in a tower. News of her disappearance spreads far, and a brave Prince sails across seas and treks over land until he tracks the Princess to the Gnome’s castle, ready to rescue her. As he approaches, a nimble Goblin with slender, frail fingers hops easily over mountains and valleys, chasing the Prince. Just as the Prince reaches the gates, a fierce Witch with a broomstick and a black cat at her heels storms in, sputtering, snarling, and yanking her tall hat askew when she realizes she missed the Goblin she was pursuing. All these fates orbit the quiet, looming Giant Thunder Bones, the unknowing owner of the castle where all the chaos unfolds.

VIII

The chapter opens beneath a moonlit sky with a whimsical procession summoned by Stella Doughty, where a night-working Kobold troubles a broomstick-wielding Witch whose sputtering indignation fails to catch a nimble Goblin. The Goblin hops over mountain and dale in pursuit of a brave Prince who sails over sea and rides over land until he finds the Princess of Wandeltreg, absorbed in a game of Mumblepeg and caught by a gray-bearded Gnome who digs for gems to please an anxious Dwarf guarding the castle’s books for Giant Thunder Bones. With that fairy-tale flourish, the door swings open onto a treasury of cumulative rhymes and nursery tales.

Carolyn Wells leads the parade with “The House That Jill Built,” a chain that grows longer with every verse. It begins with Jill’s House and her Doll, then the Cake that fed the Doll, the Oven that baked it, the Wood that heated the Oven, the dusky-shaded Tree that gave the Wood, the shining Ax that chopped it, the sober Woodman who swung the Ax, the prancing Horse that neighed at the Woodman, the Knight with the red cockade who rode the Horse, the Lady in gay brocade who followed him, and finally the Glittering Cavalcade that parades after her. A loud-braying Donkey startles the whole procession, and a much-dismayed King catches the sound.

From Joseph Jacobs’s English Fairy Tales comes “The Old Woman and Her Pig,” in which a sweeping housewife finds a crooked sixpence, buys a little pig at market, and is thwarted at a stile. She pleads with Dog, Stick, Fire, Water, Ox, Butcher, Rope, Rat, and Cat in turn, each refusing until the cat bargains for a saucer of milk from the cow, who bargains for a handful of hay. Once the milk is delivered, every reluctant creature snaps into motion and the little pig leaps the stile, sending the old woman home that night.

Jacobs’s Indian Fairy Tales offer “The Lambikin,” a wee tottery-legged creature who skips toward Granny’s house, defying a Jackal, Vulture, Tiger, Wolf, Dog, and Eagle with his refrain about growing fatter. After seven days in the corn-bin, he curls into a drumikin made from his dead brother’s skin and rolls past his predators singing, until the sharp-eared Jackal recognizes his voice and gobbles him up.

A short jump-rope rhyme, “The Cat and the Mouse,” sends the mouse leaping through malt-house, cow, farmer, butcher, and baker to bargain for her tail back, while another classic, “Henny-Penny,” traces a clucking procession of Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey toward the king to warn that the sky is falling—only to be lured by Foxy-woxy into his dark cave, where the fox devours them one by one, sparing a wounded Cocky-locky long enough to warn Henny-penny home.

Cecilia Farwell adapts “Three Goats in the Ryefield,” in which a little boy, a dog, and a fox each take turns chasing the goats and end up crying by the fence, until a tiny bee buzzes into a goat’s ear and stings it into leading the herd out. Jacobs contributes “Teeny Tiny,” where a wee woman finds a wee bone, brings it home, and is haunted in the night by a demanding voice that grows louder and louder until she shrieks “Take it!” Mary Howitt then introduces Cock-alu, a vain rooster who crows the parish awake and promises to fetch water from the silver-spring for his choking wife Hen-alie. He dawdles, gathers trinkets from a snail, pigeon, and wild-cat, and arrives too late to find a single drop. A humble shabby hen slips off in silence, gathers twelve dew-kissed drops from the replenished spring, and saves Hen-alie, who rewards her with the silk stockings and green fire, transforming her into the handsomest queen-hen in the yard.