Showing results by author "Frank L. Baum" in All Categories

The Man in the Moon was rather lonesome, and often he peeked over the edge of the moon and looked down upon the earth and envied all the people who lived together. He thought it must be vastly more pleasant to have companions to talk to than to be shut up on a big planet all by himself.

Old King Cole was not always a king, nor was he born a member of any royal family. It was only chance that made him a king at all. He had always been a poor man, being the son of an apple peddler, who had died and left him nothing but a donkey and a fiddle. But that was enough for Cole, who never bothered his head about the world's goods, but took things as they came and refused to worry about anything. So begins the story of how this happy soul became the king of a country by accident.

This delightful story tells of the Little Bun Rabbit who is befriended by Dorothy, a little girl. She knows the rhyme and asks the little rabbit about it. Bun Rabbit tells her that indeed, he sees Santa every year as he drives by in his sleigh loaded with toys. One year Santa stopped to talk with him and ask if he would come to his workshop at the North Pole so he could use him as a model to make toy rabbits for little babies. He agrees and this is his exciting adventure with Santa. That is why so many stuffed bunny rabbits are made and given at Christmas to be loved by children everywhere.

Mary was the beloved daughter of a sailor and his wife who lived on a hill close to the sea. She was called "Mistress Mary, quite contrary" because she was a contrary child who often did the exact opposite of what she was told. But her parents loved her and knew that she would someday grow out of this peevish behavior. One day her father and brothers set off on a long sea journey and she asked him when he would return. He replied that they would be away for the time that it took for a garden of cowslips, dingle bells, and cockle shells to sprout, grow, blossom, and wither and die away again.

Within the hollow wall of an old brick mansion, away up near the roof, there lived a family of mice. It was a snug little home, pleasant and quiet, and as dark as any mouse could desire. Mamma Mouse liked it because, as she said, the draught that came through the rafters made it cool in summer, and they were near enough to the chimney to keep warm in wintertime.

Gilligren was an orphan and lived with an uncle and aunt who were very unkind to him. They cuffed him and scolded him upon the slightest provocation, and made his life very miserable indeed. Gilligren never rebelled against this treatment, but bore their cruelty silently and with patience, although often he longed to leave them and seek a home amongst kinder people.

The Black Sheep is very young so he is curious about why the farmer cuts their wool off every year. "The man and his wife spin our wool into clothes to keep them warm" was the reply of a wise old ram. The little black sheep then meets the boy who lives down the lane and hears that his mother has no money to buy him a coat and he is cold in the winter so the kind little sheep asks the farmer if he will grow enough wool for 3 bags instead of the normal two, could he have one. The farmer agrees and so this is what happens. A wonderful story all around.

That wonderful storyteller Baum, of Wizard of Oz fame, tells us the delightful story behind this little rhyme and we all will feel much better knowing that the little boy had excellent reasons to be asleep that morning. Listen and enjoy the whole nifty story. Many of our most loved nursery rhymes are complete tales in themselves, telling their story tersely but completely; others are but bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of the story.