The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kittens and Cats, by Eulalie Osgood Grover

BY
EULALIE OSGOOD GROVER
AUTHOR OF “THE SUNBONNET BABIES’ PRIMER,”
“THE OVERALL BOYS,” ETC.

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON · NEW YORK · CHICAGO · DALLAS · SAN FRANCISCO
The Riverside Press Cambridge

KITTENS AND CATS

THE QUEEN

You are all invited from the biggest to the littlest, from the oldest to the youngest, from the blackest to the whitest.

Forget your naughty tricks and do not one of you dare be late to your Queen’s party.

GRANNY GRAY

GETTING READY

I WONDER

READY FOR THE PARTY

A FULL CART

TIME TO START

It is a new bonnet. This is the first time I have worn it. I hope it looks all right.

I must practice sitting up straight and proper just for a minute. I want the Queen to know that I am a fine lady.

I hope my kittens will not rough up their fur. If they do I shall have to shine it all over again.

IS MY HAT ON STRAIGHT

They are such beautiful kittens their mother does not even tie ribbons around their necks.

I must go now and take them all to the Queen’s palace. I am sure they will be the handsomest kittens there.

HIDING

AN INVITATION

NO PARTY FOR ME

How strange it is that some of us want to go to the party, and some do not want to go. Some of us can go, and some cannot go.

They surely will have something good to eat there, but I must stay at home and take my medicine.

I’M OFF

BEING WEIGHED

Then I am big enough to go to the party all alone, though I am not sure that I want to go.

THE PARTY

Attention, kittens and cats! The clock strikes one. The Queen’s party has begun.

As you each pass in you must salute her and recite for her a cat tale, a rat tale, or some other tale, long or short, true or not.

But no fears or tears, for our Queen has a fine dinner in her grand dining-room for all brave kittens and cats.

THE COMMANDING OFFICER

THE LATEST NEWS

WHAT IS IT

I’LL SING YOU A SONG

I am a famous singer among kittens and cats. I sing in the kitten choir and in big concerts.

A TALE OF A MOUSE

So, dear Queen, no mouse shall trouble your party while we two brave cats are here.

WE ARE THE CATS

A NURSE’S TALE

A FAMOUS MOUSER

A DUNCE’S TALE

A TALE OF THREE KITTENS

We will tell you a tale of ourselves, dear Queen. A tale of three little kittens.

THE KITTENS THREE

A RAINY-DAY TALE

A TALE OF LONDON TOWN

A TALE I KNOW

A TALE OF ST. IVES

I have thought and counted, and counted and thought, but I cannot tell how many were going to St. Ives.

A LITTLE FAIRY’S TALE

Even the mice do not know it, for they play with me and we have fine frolics together.

If he had known that I was a real, live kitten, I am sure he never would have told me.

Would you like to know where the little mouse lives? A friend was with me and she will tell you. Listen!

A SECRET

WHO WAS HE

His eyes had black spots in them just like mine, and his whiskers were long just like mine.

A STRANGER

A SAD TALE

MY OWN TALE

THREE TALES

A SIGHT TO SEE

A ’FRAID-CAT’S TALE

FROM THE NORTH POLE

I came from the land of the snow, from the land of the Eskimo, where the summer is all day and the winter is all night.

THE TWINS

DO WE LOOK ALIKE

WHAT SHALL WE SING

WAITING

DING, DONG, BELL

All you kittens and cats who have told tales of rats, or of mice, or of cats, and have made our Queen laugh, listen!

The Queen bids you come to the grand dining-room. There a dinner she spreads which may quite turn your heads.

THE DINING-ROOM

I AM SO HUNGRY

Yes, dear Queen, I will tell you a story about seven little pussy-cats who were not so polite as we are. But first may I please have a little more milk to drink?

THE QUEEN’S TEA-TABLE

SEVEN LITTLE PUSSY-CATS

MANY THANKS

GOOD NIGHT

THE LAST TALE

A WORD TO THE TEACHER

When a new school Reader comes to the hands of the primary teacher, she naturally asks: “Will this book give to my class of boys and girls a healthy stimulus of thought and pleasure? Will they receive through it valuable instruction and assistance in the mechanics of reading? Is the book sufficiently literary in style and artistic in form to command the respect and love of the children? Is it suggestive, dramatic, and ethically healthful? In a word, is it worth the precious time of the schoolroom?”

To the inquiring teacher who may examine this little book, which is devoted entirely to the frolics and fancies of kittens and cats, the following remarks may reveal a definite educational purpose and value in it.

Following the example of Mother Goose, the wise and classic rhymester of the nursery, we have taken a subject dear to the heart of childhood and have given it life and personality in the simple and unsophisticated manner of the child.

Many of the happiest playtime experiences of children are associated with their kittens. They delight to dress the frolicsome yet docile little creatures in doll gowns and jackets, and give them long rides in doll carriages, and make them sit at tiny tables and share in tea parties, then put them to bed and perhaps give them water medicine for an imaginary ill. Can there be a more normal and healthy pastime for a little child than this?

In one respect kittens take precedence over dolls. They are alive.[82] They must be treated kindly. They will not bear the abuse and neglect given to many beautiful dolls. They demand attention and companionship, and they return a real devotion for kindness and care. Therefore we love them, and especially do our children love them and delight in stories or pictures of them.

Those of us who have had glimpses of the child heart and mind know that stories of kittens and queens and parties yield much the same delight to the little reader of juvenile fiction, as do adventure and romance to the grown-up reader.

This simple story about the Queen of the Kitten Country and the party which she gives in her palace, ought, therefore, to meet one of the most important requirements for a higher first grade school Reader, that of a strong appeal to the child in subject matter and illustration. With the interest keenly aroused the difficulties in learning to read are mastered quickly and with pleasure. However, the following brief suggestions are given to assist any teacher who may need them in making use of the book to the greatest advantage for her class.

SUGGESTIONS

Before the reading of the book is begun there might well be one or two story-telling periods. Each child should be encouraged to tell a story, from his own experience if possible, about a kitten, or a party, or to give his idea of a queen.

The children should be assisted in recalling and in learning Mother Goose rhymes and other verses about cats. Give them several blackboard drawing lessons showing cats in different positions and costumes. A frieze of kittens may be started at the top of the blackboard,[83] adding each new kitten character to the row as the story progresses. This frieze will furnish material for several varieties of “busy work.”

A valuable exercise to stimulate thought and facility of expression is to assign a short page for a child to read silently, which he later gives aloud in his own words before the teacher and class.

Interesting and profitable reviews may be frequently had by assigning a cat character to each child, having them read in order the text devoted to their special character. The first review of this kind may well occur at the end of page twenty, where the preparations for the party are completed. When the party is over a final review may be given in dramatic form. The children should impersonate the different cats and tell their tales to amuse the Queen, who sits on her throne. This final dramatic review would naturally begin with the call of the Commanding Officer on page twenty-two. Each child should memorize his part and give it with spontaneous expression and action. Slight costuming may be prepared if desired, or the blackboard frieze may furnish the cat pictures, while the children give life and action to them.

Other special and valuable reviews may be developed from the large amount of verse in the book, each child choosing a favorite verse to read or recite or to illustrate on the blackboard. The children should be encouraged to make rhyming sentences and word lists of their own, using the fundamental thought or words in the day’s lesson as a basis. From such rhymes and lists of rhyming words, phonic work may be developed as the teacher chooses.

There are about six hundred words in the vocabulary of “Kittens and Cats,” and though it has not been mechanically graded, it should[84] be within easy grasp of upper first grade pupils, after the usual Primer work is done. Each page of the book is a complete brief story well suited to the daily lesson period. These short stories are so related, however, as to make one continuous long story, thus keeping the interest of the children keen throughout the book. Books of this nature have proved a great stimulus to thoughtful and fluent reading, which, after all, is the high aim in primary work.

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The Queen	2
Granny Gray	4
Getting Ready	6
I wonder	7
Ready for the Party	8
A Full Cart	9
Time to Start	10
Is my Hat on Straight	12
Hiding	14
An Invitation	15
No Party for Me	16
I’m Off	18
Being Weighed	20
[vi]The Party	22
The Commanding Officer	23
The Latest News	24
What is It?	25
I’ll sing you a Song	26
A Tale of a Mouse	28
We are the Cats	29
A Nurse’s Tale	30
A Famous Mouser	32
A Long Time Ago	34
A Dunce’s Tale	36
A Tale of Three Kittens	38
The Kittens Three	41
A Rainy-Day Tale	42
A Tale of London Town	44
A Tale I know	46
[vii]A Tale of St. Ives	48
A Little Fairy’s Tale	50
A Secret	52
Who was He	54
A Stranger	55
A Sad Tale	56
My Own Tale	58
Three Tales	60
A Sight to See	61
A ’Fraid-Cat’s Tale	62
From the North Pole	64
The Twins	66
Do we look Alike	67
What shall we Sing	68
Waiting	69
[viii]Ding, Dong, Bell	70
The Dining-Room	72
I am so Hungry	74
The Queen’s Tea-Table	75
Seven Little Pussy-Cats	76
Many Thanks	78
Good Night	79
The Last Tale	80

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Kittens and Cats: A First Reader

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CONTENTS