Part 1

A FIRST READER

_THE ALDINE READERS_

A FIRST READER

By Frank E. Spaulding Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis, Minn.

and

Catherine T. Bryce Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Minneapolis, Minn.

With Illustrations by Margaret Ely Webb

NEW YORK NEWSON & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1906, by_ NEWSON AND COMPANY

_All rights reserved_

1648–13

The authors and publishers desire to acknowledge their obligation to MR. NATHANIEL L. BERRY, Supervisor of Drawing in the Public Schools of Newton, Massachusetts, for valuable assistance in planning and arranging the illustrations in this book.

INTRODUCTION

This First Reader continues the interesting exercises of the Aldine Primer—the rhymes and stories, the dramatizations and pictures—which make the child’s efforts to master the art of reading both delightful and surprisingly successful. The content is concrete, alive and full of action. The joys of happy childhood at play in the open—with the birds, the animals, the flowers, the wind, the snow and the rain—the joys of childhood’s imagination, are presented in the language of childhood and from the child’s point of view. The child finds here none of the drudgery—to him quite meaningless—so often associated with the disagreeable task of learning how to read; the child reads from the very first page—he has been reading all through the Primer—reads with delight and real understanding, reads the thoughts and feels the pleasures of childhood. Hence the not uncommon occurrence of a child’s suddenly discovering in surprise that he has learned how to read—that he can read—that he is reading—and that he likes to read!

But there is no magic about the Aldine method, if it can be called a method. Like the marvellous modern achievements of applied science, its success depends upon the simple principle of understanding and utilizing, instead of ignoring and antagonizing, nature. The child’s nature furnishes the key, the sure guide to all the method there is in Aldine reading.

The initial stock of about one hundred “sight words,” which the reading of the Primer has furnished, is increased gradually. At first most of the new words are easily acquired, as were those of the Primer, through the memorizing of simple and interesting rhymes. Such rhymes occur on pages 3, 6, 11, 15, 17, 25, 28, 33, 37, 47, 55, 75. But for the development of the power and the habit of independent mastery of new words by the child reliance is placed on the exercises in phonics, which should be systematic and constant throughout the book. Just what these exercises are and just how they are to be carried out to make them most effective are matters fully explained in the _Teacher’s Manual_, “Learning to Read.”

No formidable mechanism is involved in the teaching of phonics. The plan is an entirely simple and natural one. The pupil is shown how and encouraged from the outset to do quickly, directly and intelligently what he otherwise learns slowly, indirectly and unconsciously. He is taught to observe, to analyze and to compare words; he is taught to apply constantly his growing knowledge of sounds and of letters used to represent sounds. These exercises are scarcely less interesting to the child than are the rhymes, stories and dramatizing, for the child understands what he is doing and why he is doing it, and he feels the joy of increasing mastery. So rapid and sure is the child’s progress and growth in independent power that he reads at sight and reads well any interesting Primer long before he has completed this First Reader. When this book is completed he can read any properly graded First Reader, in fact almost anything that he can understand, and he can read it absolutely at sight with little hesitation and read it with intelligent expression.

Aldine Reading, as presented in this and in the other books of the Aldine Series, is vastly more important than any mere method or device for acquiring mastery of the mechanics of reading—it does lead to that mastery speedily; it is all-round, rich, sound education for the primary child; and withal it is a joy to child and teacher, as all primary education ought to be.

CONTENTS

PAGE

WITH THE BIRDS 1

OUT OF DOORS 23

The Wind 26

The Leaves 28

The Birds and the Leaves 30

The Snow 34

Little Birdie 38

Feeding the Squirrels 40

The Squirrels 43

IN SUMMER TIME 45

Summer is Coming 47

Pussy Willows 48

The Pussies 50

Little Violet 52

Mother’s Song 56

Baby 58

Baby Asleep 62

The New Kite 66

Tom and the Wind 68

The Song of the Wind 72

WITH FLOWER AND STAR 73

The Rose 75

The Beautiful Garden 77

The Garden in Winter 80

Rose, Daisy, and Lily 82

The Spring Time 85

Tom and the Birds 86

The Star 88

The Dandelion’s Friends 91

AT CHRISTMAS-TIDE 95

Who Is It? 97

Santa Claus 98

Who is Santa Claus? 100

The Night Before Christmas 102

The Doll and the Sled 106

Christmas Morning 111

Playing in the Snow 115

IN GARDEN AND MEADOW 119

The Little Plant 121

Be Glad 122

The Fairy Butterfly 123

The Butterfly in the Garden 125

The Little Fairy 127

The White Lily 131

The Caterpillar 134

The Dandelion 138

The Bee 140

The Busy Bee 142

Why the Clover is Sweet 145

VOCABULARY 147

With·The·Birds

Fly, little birds, to the tall tree. Fly to your nest and little birds three.

tall three

Fly, little birds. Fly to your nest. Fly to the tall tree, little birds. Fly to your little birds. Fly to your three little birds.

Your little birds fly. Your little birds fly to the tall tree. Your little birds fly to the nest.

Little birds, fly to your nest. Fly to the tall tree. Fly to your three little birds. Fly to your nest and three little birds.

Fly, little birds, To the place you love best, To the tall tree And your dear little nest.

place love (n est) dear b est

Fly, little birds. Fly to the tall tree. Fly to the place you love best. Fly to your dear little nest.

You love the tall tree, little birds. You love your dear little nest. You love your three little birds best.

Your little birds fly to the tall tree. Your little birds fly to the nest. Your little birds love the tall tree. Your little birds love the nest. Your dear little birds love you best.

The birds are flying. They are flying to the tall tree. They are flying to the place they love. Where are they flying? They are flying to the dear little nest. They are flying to three little birds. They are flying to the birds in the nest. They love the tree and the nest. They love the little birds best.

Fly, little birds. Fly to the tall tree. Fly to the place you love best. Fly to your dear little nest.

Your nest is in the tall tree. Your little birds are in the nest. Fly to your nest. Fly to your dear little birds.

Your little birds love the tree. Your little birds love the nest. They love the nest in the tall tree. They love you best. You love your nest. You love your little birds best.

Robin, Robin Redbreast, Singing on the bough, Come and get your breakfast, I will feed you now.

bough Rob in will get Red breast break fast feed

Where are you, Robin Redbreast? Come, Robin, come and get your breakfast. I will feed you, Robin. I will feed you now.

I see you, Robin, in the tree. You are flying to the tall bough. You are singing to your little birds. They are in the nest in the tall tree. The nest is on the bough. You love your nest in the tall tree. Fly to your dear little nest.

Robin Redbreast is singing on the bough. Where is Robin’s nest? It is in the tall tree. Robin’s nest is on the bough. He is singing to the little birds. The little birds are in the nest. Robin wants breakfast. He wants breakfast for the little birds. Good Robin Redbreast!

too here

Come, Robin Redbreast, come to me. I want to feed you. Come, here is your breakfast. Now you can feed your little birds. I want to feed the little birds, too.

There is a nest in the old oak tree, Safe and high, Safe and high. There are three tiny eggs blue as blue can be, Like the sky, Like the sky.

as (fl y) like eggs tiny sk y (c old) high oak old safe

A nest is in the old oak tree. It is a Robin’s nest. The nest is safe on a high bough. Three tiny eggs are in the nest. The eggs are as blue as blue can be. They are like the sky.

There are three baby birds in the tiny nest, Up so high, Up so high, And the wind rocks the bough where they safely rest, Rock-a-bye, Rock-a-bye.

ba by (n est) (g o) rock s safe ly r est s o Rock-a-bye

(bird) soon made bird ies but tree-top

Robin made a nest in the oak tree. There it is high up on the bough. Three tiny eggs are in the nest. They are as blue as blue can be. They are as blue as the sky. Soon there will be three baby birds in the tiny nest.

The wind will rock the bough. But the birds will be safe in the nest. And they will like the wind to rock the bough. The old birds will sing. They will sing to the little birds.

They will sing,“Rock-a-bye, rock-a-bye. Rock-a-bye, birdies, on the tree-top.”

(sn ow) flowers then gr ow not

THE OLD OAK TREE

There is the old oak tree. See the birds flying to the nest. The nest is in the tree. Little blue flowers grow under it. The tree loves birds and flowers. And they love the old oak tree. The old oak rocks the birds in the nest. The nest is on a high bough. The wind blows the bough. But the little birds rest there safely. The old birds fly in to the nest. They feed the little birds. Then they fly to the tree-top. There they sing and sing. “We love you! We love you!” The little birds can not fly; they can not sing. So they say, “Peep! peep! We love! we love!” The little flowers look up to the old tree. They can not fly; they can not sing. But they, too, love the old oak tree.

Out·of·Doors

Whichever way the wind doth blow Some heart is glad to have it so. Then blow it east or blow it west, The wind that blows—that wind is best.

doth have (at) which ever (s ay) th at heart w ay east

cra dle (n ow) down (t all) breaks h ow their f all

THE WIND

How the wind blows! The tall trees rock in the wind. See the boughs sway up and down. Some little birds are in their nest. The nest is on a high bough. They are glad to have the wind blow. Their hearts are glad. They like the west wind best. It rocks them in their nest. They like that. They like to rock in the tree-top. Sing to the dear little birds. Sing a song to the birds in the nest. “Rock-a-bye, birdies, on the tree-top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, And down will come rock-a-bye, birdies and all.” The nest is the little birds’ cradle. It is on a bough in the tree-top. It rocks when the wind blows. When the bough breaks it falls. It falls down, down, away down! It falls to the ground. And down fall birdies and all.

THE LEAVES

“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day, “Come over the meadows with me and play.”

leaves said one

Come, little leaves. Come over the meadows. Come and play with me, little leaves. “Come, little leaves,” said the wind, “come with me. Come over the meadows with me. Come play with me in the meadows.” One day the wind said, “Come, come with me, little leaves. I want to play with you. Will you play with me?”

two could fl ew gr ew saw were bl ew

THE BIRDS AND THE LEAVES

An old oak tree grew in the meadow. Two birds made a nest in it. Soon there were three little birds there. They could not fly; they could not sing. But the old birds loved the little ones. The little leaves looked into the nest. They saw the little birds. The leaves said, “Come and play.”

The little birds said, “Peep! peep!” They wanted to go with the leaves. They wanted to fly from their nest. But they could not fly. Up blew the wind one day.

“Come, little leaves,” said he. “Come over the meadows with me.” The leaves flew away with the wind.

They played in the meadow all day. The old oak tree said, “Come to me, little leaves.” But they did not come. “Come! come! come!” said the little birds. “We want to play with you.” But the leaves could not come. They were asleep in the meadow.

Come, little birds, Stop your play. Snow is coming down, You must hide away.

(top) hide must s top

sum mer out (s o) them back n o

THE SNOW

All summer the little birds played in the old oak tree. They flew in and out. They flew round and round. They flew from bough to bough. They rocked on the high boughs. They rested there. They played with the little leaves. They flew up, up to the blue sky. They flew down to see the flowers. They flew down under the tree. Up to the tree-top they flew again. They flew east and west. Whichever way they flew, they were glad.

One day the wind said, “Come, little birds. You must stop your play. Fly away from your nest in the tree. The little leaves are all asleep. The little flowers are all asleep. The snow will soon be coming down. You must hide away.”

How the little birds wanted to stay! But no, they must fly away. The wind said they must fly away. And away they flew. They flew away over the meadows. Will they come back again?

What does little birdie say In her nest at peep of day? “Let me fly,” says little birdie, “Mother, let me fly away.”

“Birdie, rest a little longer, Till the little wings are stronger.” So she rests a little longer, Then she flies away.

(oth er) (s ings) (g et) (w ill) m oth er w ings l et t ill str ong er l ong er flies her

LITTLE BIRDIE

Little birdie is in her nest. She says, “Peep, peep, peep.” “What does birdie want?” says mother. “I want to fly from the nest. Mother, let me fly away. Let me fly high over the tree-top.”

But the mother says, “No, no, you can not fly. Rest in the nest a little longer. Soon your wings will be stronger. Then you can fly away. You can fly over the tree-tops. You can fly over the meadows.”

So birdie will stay in the nest a little longer. And when her wings are stronger, she will fly away.

(c an) alone r an winter

FEEDING THE SQUIRRELS

It was a cold day. The ground was covered with snow. The cold winds blew. The trees were bare. It was winter. Baby ran out to play. He saw three little squirrels. They were running over the ground. “What can the little squirrels want?” said Baby. The squirrels ran to the oak tree. “Are you looking for acorns? There are no acorns now. Stay here, little squirrels. I will feed you.” Baby ran to mother. “Come, mother,” he said.

“Come out with me. There are three squirrels in the tree. They want some acorns. We will feed the little squirrels. I have some acorns. Come, feed the squirrels, mother.” Mother ran out with Baby. There were the squirrels in the tree. “Come, squirrels,” said Baby. “Here are some acorns.” The squirrels ran to Baby. They were glad to see the acorns. They ran to get some. They covered some with snow. Can you tell why? Then they ran to the old oak tree.

(see) (b are) (m ade) (f ast) see k c are sh ade l ast

THE SQUIRRELS

Two squirrels made their nest in the old oak tree. All summer they played in the shade. They ran up and down the boughs. They played hide and seek.

In the fall the leaves flew away. All the little birds flew away, too. They were going away for the winter. They were flying away from the snow. At last the squirrels are alone. Must they leave the old tree, too? No, little care they for the snow. They have a nest; they have acorns. They will be glad all winter. Summer will come again. Then birds and leaves will come back.

In·Summer Time

SUMMER IS COMING

Summer is coming! Summer is coming! How do you think I know? I found some pussy willows, So I know it must be so.

Summer is coming! Summer is coming! This I know very well, For I found a sweet blue violet, And that is how I tell.

pus sy wil lows this (gr ound) sweet vi o let (t ell) f ound do think w ell very

PUSSY WILLOWS

Summer is coming. I know it is. How do you think I know? To-day I found some pussy willows. Pussy willows come to tell us winter is over. All winter they were asleep. But now they are awake. They are peeping out. How glad they look! They know winter is over.

So I know that summer is coming. Pussy willows say, “Summer is coming! Winter is over!”

I love the summer. And I love the dear little pussy willows.

was

THE PUSSIES

It was a glad spring morning. Some little pussies were out playing. They were playing beside the old willow tree. Two little birds were in the tree. They were singing a glad song. They were singing, “Spring is come! Be glad! Be glad! Be glad!” It was a sweet, sweet song. It made the boys and girls glad. But do you think it made the pussies glad? Little cared they for the sweet song!

They said, “Now we have found some breakfast. We will get the little birds.” Up into the tree they jumped. They ran from bough to bough. The little birds saw them. They flew away. “We can have no breakfast here,” said the pussies. “We must look for some other birds. We will jump to the ground.” But what do you think! They could not get away. They were growing fast to the tree! They were no longer pussies. They were pussy willows!

(f all) (gl ad) (long er) c all ed h ad long ed came tired been

LITTLE VIOLET

Little Violet was fast asleep. She had been asleep all winter. All winter she had been sleeping under the snow.

Blue-bird was flying from tree to tree. He flew to the tree over Little Violet.

He was singing, “Dear Little Violet, come out, come out! Get up! get up! Are you not tired of winter? Summer is coming! Summer is coming! I am tired of winter! Tired of winter! I love the summer! I love the summer! Come, Little Violet, come up! I will sing to you.”

Little Violet was tired of winter. She was tired of the snow.

She longed for the summer. She longed for the sweet singing of the birds. She was so glad when Blue-bird called. She awoke. She came out. She grew. Blue-bird and Violet were so glad. Winter was past; summer was here.

Dear little baby, close your eye, Close your eye so blue, Mother will sing to you, “Rock-a-bye, Baby and birdies, too.” All little babies should be asleep, For the stars are shining through, And into the nest of all they peep, Babies and birdies, too.

close (ba by) (c ould) stars ba bies sh ould eye shin ing through

MOTHER’S SONG

It is night. The stars are shining. They are shining through the night. They are shining into Robin’s nest. The baby birds are asleep. The baby squirrels are asleep. Now the stars peep in at Baby. Baby is going to sleep, too. She is so tired! She has been playing all day. She should be asleep now. Mother is singing to Baby. Baby likes mother’s sweet song. I think you will like it, too. Here is the song. “Rock-a-bye, baby. Now go to sleep. Mother will sing of little sheep. The little sheep run round and round. The little sheep jump over the ground. They run to the haycock. What do they see? Little Boy Blue. Who is he? Rock-a-bye, baby. Are you asleep? Mother is singing of little sheep.” Now mother’s song is over. Baby’s blue eyes close. She is fast asleep.

(as) gave (h ide) thank h as bread s ide time

BABY

Baby has been playing in the meadow. She has been playing there all day. She has been playing hide and seek. She likes to hide. She likes to seek. All day Blue-bird has been singing. She has been singing in the meadow. Playing and singing, singing and playing! What a good time Baby and Blue-bird have had! They have been glad all the day long.

Blue-bird was singing to her little ones. Baby said she was singing to her, too. Baby saw Blue-bird’s nest. Three little birds were in the nest. She gave them some bread for breakfast. “Peep! peep! Thank you! thank you!” said the little birds. They were glad, but they longed to fly. They wanted to fly over the tree-tops. Baby found some pussy willows. They were growing in the meadow. She found a sweet blue violet, too. Pussy willows and violet were growing there side by side. They peeped at Baby as she came up.

Baby gave the violet to her mother. “Thank you, my dear,” said mother. “I love the sweet violet. I love my baby, too. Violet tells me summer is coming, Summer, and the summer sky, so blue.”