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

Gay and Spy

On a May day, cheerful little Gay walked the woods with her dog Spy. He dashed into a brook to spoil a bird’s bath—“What a bad dog!”—though the bird was only frightened. Later he chased a red squirrel up a tree despite Gay’s cries, returning ashamed. “You’re young,” she said; “Bow-wow!” he replied. Tired, Gay gathered violets and May-flowers for her grandmother until sunset, when Spy barked at a rabbit by a stone-wall. “The rabbit is safe in that wall,” she said, calling him home.

The Ballad of a Runaway Donkey

Emilie Poulsson sang of Barney Gray, a sturdy donkey who ran away, galloping through meadows, woods, dales, swamps, and hayfields with children, groom, coachman, and farmer in chase. Some carried whips, some oats, calling to coax or scold. When they stopped, Barney stood meek as a lamb—until they resumed. In the barn-yard he crashed into the swinging gate, which latched shut. The children danced, the groom roared, but Barney still held out. The mighty coachman dragged him up the hill until Barney relented. In his stall, you’d scarce believe so meek a beast had run away—but his meditations were only of some future chance to do so again.

The Three Bears

A fox named Scrapefoot, living alone in the wood, feared the three bears but wanted to know them. He crept into their unlocked castle, tried the chairs and broke the little one, drank milk and found only the little saucer’s sweet, then fell asleep upstairs in the little white bed. The bears returned, each crying “Who’s been…?” until the little bear found him. They swung him and flung him out the window. Scrapefoot shook each leg, wagged his tail, found no bones broken, and galloped home, never to return.

The Little Bear’s Story

C. F. Holder’s California cub, orphaned when his mother was roped by cruel ranchers, was carried home in a basket and later sent to a San Francisco butcher, where he sometimes dreamed of his mountain home. Taken to be photographed, he peeked through a button-hole on the cable-cars. The photographer, expecting “a descendant of the early settlers,” was astonished to find a cub bear. After much sugar and trouble—sitting on a chair, astride a screen with hind feet dangling—the man shook a tambourine, there was a click, and at last his picture was taken.

The Hare and the Hedgehog

The Brothers Grimm told how a hedgehog, mocked for his short legs by a haughty hare, wagered a louis d’or on a race. The hedgehog stationed himself at one end of a long hedge and his wife at the other. When the hare ran, the hedgehog took three steps and returned while his wife called, “I am here already!” Three-and-seventy times the hare ran, but each time a hedgehog held the advantage. The four-and-seventieth time the hare dropped exhausted in the middle of the course, and the hedgehog took his winnings home composedly.

The Wee Robin’s Christmas Song

A wee Robin Redbreast, asked by a Pussy Cat, a greedy Hawk, a sly Fox, and a shepherd boy where he was going, said he was off to sing the King a glad Christmas song. To each temptation—a white ring, a bright feather, a pretty tail-spot, lunch-crumbs—he refused: “No, no! You worried the wee mousie… pecked the Meadowlark… worried the Lamb… caught the Goldfinch—but you cannot [catch/worry/peck] me!” He reached the King, perched on a plowshare, and sang his cheery song. The King and Queen gave him the wee Wren as wife, the court danced at the wedding, and the newlyweds flew home to the brier bush by the brook.

The Fox

A hungry fox begged the moon for light, then prowled to a farmer’s yard. He seized the gray goose by the sleeve and flung the gray duck across his back. Old Mrs. Flipper Flapper popped her head out: “John, John, John!”—and John blew a shrill blast from the hilltop. The fox hurried home to eight, nine, ten little foxes, and he and his wife feasted on the fat duck while the little ones picked the bones.