Come, little brother, come to me; I'll teach you soon your A, B, C. You're three years old; you must, indeed, Begin at once to learn to read. Be careful now, don't tear the book, And where I point there you must look. That's A, that's B, and that is C; Now say them plainly after me. That's very well! How very nice! You'll learn your letters in a trice. And then you'll quickly learn to spell, And soon, I hope, read very well. [Illustration] GETTING UP. Baby, baby, Ope your eye, For the sun Is in the sky; And he's peeping once again, Through the frosty window pane. Little baby, do not keep Any longer fast asleep. There, now, sit in mother's lap, That she may untie your cap; For the little strings have got Twisted into such a knot! [Illustration] SUSY BROWN. Susy Brown is a good girl; she is willing to give up her play, and stay at home to take care of the baby. Some of her friends were going to the woods and fields to pick berries, and Susy wanted to go with them; but when she came home from school, and found her mother tired and worn with her work and the heat, Susy took the baby and said she would stay at home and let her mother rest. When the girls came home with their berries, they all gave Susy some, for every body loves Susy. [Illustration] THE SQUIRREL-TRAP. Henry had seen a squirrel in a cage; he had watched him whirling about and cracking his nuts, and he longed to have one of his own; so he built a trap-cage, and set it near the great nut tree. He set it in the morning, and then went to school, but he could not study much for thinking of the trap. After school it did not take him long to visit the old nut tree, and lo! there was a little squirrel in his trap; but little squirry soon got away, as you see, and ran off to the woods, happy enough to get his liberty again. [Illustration] THE SQUIRREL. One pleasant summer morning A little boy was seen Beneath a spreading oak tree Upon a village green. And to a merry squirrel The child was heard to say-- "How is it, Mr. Muncher, You always are at play?" "I laid up nuts, last autumn, So I can frolic now," Replied the merry squirrel, And frisked along the bough. [Illustration] "And you, my little school-boy, Must study all you can, And lay up stores of knowledge, To use when you're a man." Near by a bird was stopping To rest its pretty wing-- "Pray, tell me," said the youngster, "Who taught you how to sing?" "I never had a master," The little bird replied; "But when my mate was sitting, To comfort her I tried; "And if you like my singing, Its secret I will tell-- All that we do for love, sir, We surely shall do well." And now, dear little children, If you open wide your eyes, You will see the pretty lessons In creatures, birds, and skies. [Illustration] [Illustration] How doth the little busy bee Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day From every opening flower!