The Princess and the Pea
by Hans Christian Andersen Illustrated by Edmund Dulac There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess, but then she must be a real Princess. He travelled right around the world to find one, but there was always something wrong. There were plenty of princesses, but whether they were real princesses he had great difficulty in discovering; there was always something which was not quite right about them. So at last he had come home again, and he was very sad because he wanted a real princess so...
Posted on Jul 2, 1997
One of Aesop’s Fables
Illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: “Who do you think you are? There’s no denying you’re swift, but even you can be beaten!” The hare squealed with laughter.
“Beaten...
The Tortoise and the Hare
Posted on Jun 30, 1997
by Grace James
Illustrated by Warwick Goble
Mr. Medzumi, the Rat, was an important personage in the hamlet where he lived-at least he was so in his own and his wife’s estimation. This was in part, of course, due to the long line of ancestors from whom he was descended, and to their intimate association with the gods of Good Fortune. For, be it remembered, his ancestry went back into a remote...
The Espousal of the Rat...
Posted on Jun 30, 1997
by Grace James
Illustrated by Warwick Goble
In Yedo there dwelt a samurai called Hagiwara. He was a samurai of the hatamoto, which is of all the ranks of samurai the most honourable. He possessed a noble figure and a very beautiful face, and was beloved of many a lady of Yedo, both openly and in secret. For himself, being yet very young, his thoughts turned to pleasure rather than to love, and...
The Peony Lantern
Posted on Jun 30, 1997
by Grace James
Illustrated by Warwick Goble
There was an old bamboo cutter called Také Tori. He was an honest old man, very poor and hard-working, and he lived with his good old wife in a cottage on the hills. Children they had none, and little comfort in their old age, poor souls.
Také Tori rose early upon a summer morning, and went forth to cut bamboos as was his wont, for he sold them for...
The Moon Maiden
Posted on Jun 30, 1997
Classic Fairy Tale
Illustrated by Edmund Dulac
Once upon a time, in a splendid palace on the bed of the bluest ocean, lived the Sea King, a wise old triton with a long flowing white beard. He lived in a magnificent palace, built of gaily coloured coral and seashells, together with his five daughters, very beautiful mermaids.
Sirenetta, the youngest and loveliest of them all, also had a beautiful voice,...
The Little Mermaid
Posted on Jun 27, 1997
by Eugene Field
Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
Oh, a wonderful horse is the Fly-Away Horse –
Perhaps you have seen him before;
Perhaps, while you slept, his shadow has swept
Through the moonlight that floats on the floor.
For it’s only at night, when the stars twinkle bright,
That the Fly-Away Horse, with a neigh
And a pull at his rein and a toss of his mane,
Is up on his heels and...
The Fly-Away Horse
Posted on Jun 27, 1997
by Eugene Field
Illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
In an ocean, ‘way out yonder
(As all sapient people know),
Is the land of Wonder-Wander,
Whither children love to go;
It’s their playing, romping, swinging,
That give great joy to me
While the Dinkey-Bird goes singing
In the amfalula tree!
There the gum-drops grow like cherries,
And taffy’s thick as peas –
Caramels you pick like...
The Dinkey Bird
Posted on Jun 25, 1997
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrated by Margaret Tarrant
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow–
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he...
My Shadow
Posted on Jun 23, 1997
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I...
Bed in Summer
Posted on Jun 23, 1997
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
Water Dance
Thomas Locker. Sandpiper 2002, Paperback, 32 pages, $3.00
The River of Glass
Aija Jasuna (Illustrator). Big Tent Books 2008, Hardcover, 24 pages, $7.00
Smooth it glides upon its travel,
Here a wimple, there a gleam –
O the clean gravel!
O the smooth stream!
Sailing blossoms,...
Looking-Glass River