Categories
- Antiques & Collectibles 13
- Architecture 36
- Art 48
- Bibles 22
- Biography & Autobiography 813
- Body, Mind & Spirit 137
- Business & Economics 28
- Computers 4
- Cooking 94
- Crafts & Hobbies 4
- Drama 346
- Education 45
- Family & Relationships 57
- Fiction 11812
- Games 19
- Gardening 17
- Health & Fitness 34
- History 1377
- House & Home 1
- Humor 147
- Juvenile Fiction 1873
- Juvenile Nonfiction 202
- Language Arts & Disciplines 88
- Law 16
- Literary Collections 686
- Literary Criticism 179
- Mathematics 13
- Medical 41
- Music 40
- Nature 179
- Non-Classifiable 1768
- Performing Arts 7
- Periodicals 1453
- Philosophy 63
- Photography 2
- Poetry 896
- Political Science 203
- Psychology 42
- Reference 154
- Religion 498
- Science 126
- Self-Help 79
- Social Science 80
- Sports & Recreation 34
- Study Aids 3
- Technology & Engineering 59
- Transportation 23
- Travel 463
- True Crime 29
Dame Duck's First Lecture on Education
by: Unknown
Description:
Excerpt
Old Mother Duck has hatched a brood
Of ducklings, small and callow:
Their little wings are short, their down
Is mottled gray and yellow.
There is a quiet little stream,
That runs into the moat,
Where tall green sedges spread their leaves,
And water-lilies float.
Close by the margin of the brook,
The old duck made her nest,
Of straw, and leaves, and withered grass,
And down from her own breast.
View larger image
And there she sat for four long weeks,
In rainy days and fine,
Until the ducklings all came out—
Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
One peeped out from beneath her wing,
One scrambled on her back:
“That’s very rude,” said old Dame Duck,
“Get off! quack, quack, quack, quack!”
“’Tis close,” said Dame Duck, shoving out
The egg shells with her bill,
“Besides, it never suits young ducks
To keep them sitting still.”
So, rising from her nest, she said,
“Now, children, look at me:
A well-bred duck should waddle so,
From side to side—d’ye see?”
“Yes,” said the little ones, and then
She went on to explain:
“A well-bred duck turns in its toes
As I do—try again.”
“Yes,” said the ducklings, waddling on:
“That’s better,” said their mother;
“But well-bred ducks walk in a row.
Straight—one behind another.”
“Yes,” said the little ducks again,
All waddling in a row:
“Now to the pond,” said old Dame Duck—
Splash, splash, and in they go.
“Let me swim first,” said old Dame Duck,
“To this side, now to that;
There, snap at those great brown-winged flies,
They make young ducklings fat.
“Now, when you reach the poultry-yard,
The hen-wife, Molly Head,
Will feed you, with the other fowls,
On bran and mashed-up bread;
“The hens will peck and fight, but mind,
I hope that all of you,
Will gobble up the food as fast
As well-bred ducks should do.
“You had better get into the dish,
Unless it is too small;
In that case, I should use my foot,
And overturn it all.”
The ducklings did as they were bid,
And found the plan so good,
That, from that day, the other fowls
Got hardly any food.
NEW PICTURE BOOKS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN.
Particular attention is called to the following
UNRIVALLED “THREE CENT BOOKS.”
UNCLE TOBY’S SERIES—New.
Twelve kinds. A happy collection of enjoyable, childish stories. Four full-page illustrations, elegantly printed in colors. 16mo. 10 pages.
Old Mother Bantry.The Enraged Miller.Dame Duck’s First Lecture.Jack and Jill.The Three Tiny Pigs.Tommy Tatter.The Naughty Puppies.Queen and Princess of Dolly-Land.The Little Dog Trusty.Chattering Jack.Whittington and his Cat.Little Totty.Six kinds. Some of the best that have ever been written, embracing those recommended by Dr. Watts, as standards for the guidance of other writers. 12 pages. Well printed, with four elegant illustrations in colors. Showy pictorial covers, printed in colors.
Against Faults.Praises for Good.Good Resolutions.Against Evil.Good Examples.Early Religion.PLEASURE BOOKS.
Six kinds. Standard stories, with full-page showy illustrations. 16mo. 16 pages. Pictorial covers, printed in colors.
The House that Jack Built.Old Dame and her Silver Sixpence.Fox and Geese.Life and Death of Jenny Wren.The Three Bears.Little Man and Little Maid.Many novelties in preparation, which will be superior to anything heretofore published....