PREFACE

     This is a book of short stories for the youngest readers,—stories about old friends, which they can easily read themselves.
     Here they will learn why Mary's Lamb went to school, what the mouse was looking for when he ran up the clock, why one little pig went to market, how one little pig got lost, and the answers to a great many other puzzling questions.
     The stories are written around some of the Mother Goose rhymes because the children love to meet old friends in books just as well as we do.
     The vocabulary is limited to words easily recognized by beginners in reading, and the sentences are made short and direct, so that they will be understood. The stories progress gradually from very easy to more difficult matter, keeping pace with the child's increasing knowledge and ability,—the book being carefully arranged for use as a supplementary reader, or for home reading for the little ones.
     
     
     
 CONTENTS

     LITTLE BOY BLUE

     SNOWBALL

     FIRE-CRACKER

     BOY BLUE'S DREAM

     MARY'S LAMB

     THE LAMB AT SCHOOL

     LITTLE BO-PEEP

     HICKORY, DICKORY, DOCK

     MISTRESS MARY

     TOMMY TUCKER

     FIVE LITTLE PIGS

     JACK AND JILL

     JACK HORNER'S PIE

     THE OLD WOMAN IN THE SHOE

     MISS MUFFET

     HUMPTY DUMPTY

 List of Illustrations