Animal Children

The Friends of the Forest and the Plain.

[Illustration]

By
Edith Brown Kirkwood

Drawings by
M.T.  Ross

[Illustration]

Published by

P.F.  Volland & Co.

Chicago

Copyright 1913
P.F.  Volland & Company
All Rights Reserved

Ninth Edition

To all children who find friends in the Forest or on the Plain, and especially to Samuel and to Gilbert, this book is lovingly dedicated.

FOREWORD

When God made the world He planted the flowers and the grass and the trees to make things beautiful to look upon; He swung the sun and the moon and the stars in the sky to make things bright; He put the birds in the trees to fill the air with music, and when He made the animals we believe that he intended them to be the friends of man.

Why, isn’t the dog the best playmate that a boy can have?  Did any one ever hear of Towser or Gyp being false friends?  And the soft, dainty, cunning bit of a fluffy ball of a kitten who comes rubbing its downy sides against the tiny girl’s skirts begging for a return caress, is there a play-fellow more lovable?  And the squirrel who comes begging at the window for nuts; the bunny rabbit who snuggles its delicate nose, trustingly, under the little boy’s chin; the horse who has been man’s friend in times of trouble and of peace, bearing his burdens or scampering with him over the fields and roads in play; the cow who has sent her good milk to the babies of all time; the sheep and the goats who have given of their wool to keep us warm,—­we love them all dearly.

In this volume we have tried to
make friends and playmates of all
of the animals.  You have loved the
“Flower Children” and the “Bird
Children” whom the publisher already
has made your playmates. 
We feel that you are going to be
just as happy to know the “Animal
Children.”  Therefore we add to
“The Little Cousins of the Field
and Garden” and “The Little Playmates
of the Flower Children,” this
volume—­“The Friends of the Forest
and the Plain.”

Edith brown Kirkwood
M.T.  Ross

ANIMAL CHILDREN

Sometimes I am so sorry that my papa is a king,
It’s really most annoying and hurts like everything
To have the little girls and boys all want to run away,
For if I am a Lion prince, I’m a baby, anyway!

Some jungle boys, by mischief made quite bold,
Once took the baby Tiger, so we’re told,
And in broad stripes they smeared his coat so fine,
And ’round his neck they hung a “Fresh Paint” sign.

This monkey thought the Leopard’s spots
Were pasted on for polka-dots,
He asked her how much it would cost
New ones to buy if those were lost.