y, _very_ tired. So she stopped. And Marni said,
"Whoa, horsie!"

Then Little Aa said, "Ugh, ugh!" for he wanted to go again. But Marni
said "Get up, horsie!" for she wanted to go too. But Mother she was
very, _very_, VERY tired. She had jogged, jogged, jogged so long and
made the wheels go round, round, round, round, so much! So she said,
"The ride is all over!" Then Little Aa climbed down out of the wagon and
Marni climbed down out of the wagon. And Marni said, "Goodbye, wagon!"
and ran away!

MARNI GETS DRESSED
IN THE MORNING

This story, obviously, is for a particular little girl. It is told in
the terms of her own experience, of her own environment, and of her own
observations. It is nothing more or less than the living over in
rhythmic form of the daily routine of her morning dressing. Her story
remarks are either literal quotations or adaptations of her actual every
day responses. The little verse refrains are the type of thing almost
anyone can improvise. I have found that any simple statement about a
familiar object or act told (or sung) with a kind of ceremonious
attention and with an obvious and simple rhythm, enthralls a
two-year-old. The little girl for whom this story was written began
embryonic stories before her second birthday. The water-soap-sponge
episode is an adaptation of one of her first narrative forms. This story
is meant merely as a suggestion of the way almost anyone can make
language an every day plaything to the small child she is caring for.

MARNI GETS DRESSED IN THE MORNING

Once there was a little girl and her name was Marni Moo. Marni used to
sleep in a little bed in mother's room. In the morning Marni would wake
up and she would say "Hello, Mother." And then in a minute she would
say, "I want to get up."

And mother would say:

"Hoohoo, Marni Moo.
I'm coming, I'm coming,
I'm coming for you."

Then mother would get up and she'd come over and she'd unfasten the
blanket and she'd take little Marni Moo in her arms and she'd walk into
Marni's bath-room and she'd take off Marni's nightgown and Marni's
shirt. And then she'd get a little basin, and she'd put some water in
it, and she'd get some soap and she'd get a sponge and she'd wash little
Marni Moo. She'd wash Marni's face and then she'd wash Marni's hands,
and Marni would put one hand in the basin and