The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mother Stories, by Maud Lindsay

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Title: Mother Stories

Author: Maud Lindsay

Illustrator: Sarah Noble-Ives

Release Date: May 28, 2005 [EBook #15929]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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MOTHER STORIES

BY

MAUD LINDSAY

ILLUSTRATED _by_ SARAH NOBLE-IVES

"_Mother, a story told at the right time
Is a looking-glass for the mind_."
FROEBEL.

TWENTY-EIGHTH EDITION

MILTON BRADLEY COMPANY
SPRINGFIELD MASS. 1928

=Bradley Quality Books=
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEDICATED _to_ MY MOTHER

PREFACE

I have endeavored to write, for mothers and dear little children, a few
simple stories, embodying some of the truths of Froebel's Mother Play.

The Mother Play is such a vast treasure house of Truth, that each one
who seeks among its stores may bring to light some gem; and though,
perhaps, I have missed its diamonds and rubies, I trust my string of
pearls may find acceptance with some mother who is trying to live with
her children.

I have written my own mottoes, with a few exceptions, that I might
emphasize the particular lesson which I endeavor to teach in the story;
for every motto in the Mother Play comprehends so much that it is
impossible to use the whole for a single subject. From "The Bridge" for
instance, which is replete with lessons, I have taken only one,--for the
story of the "Little Traveler."

Most of these stories have been told and retold to little children, and
are surrounded, in my eyes, by a halo of listening faces.

"Mrs. Tabby Gray" is founded on a true story of a favorite cat. "The
Journey" is a new version of the old Stage Coach game, much loved by our
grandmothers; and I am indebted to some old story, read in childhood,
for the suggestion of "Dust Under the Rug," which was a successful
experiment in a kindergarten to test the possibility of interesting
little children in a story after the order of Grimm, with the wicked
stepmother and her vio