Puppies and kittens, and other stories

Some dogs love being photographed and others simply hate it. We once had a dog called Tim who was determined to be in every photograph. It didn’t matter what we were trying to t...

Tim was very good to the puppies. Naturally, he didn’t trouble himself about them quite like a mother, but he was never snappy or disagreeable. Even when they played all over hi...

Timette and Ann missed their brothers; it seemed funny to be such a small family and they did their best to entice old Tim to play with them. But he was too grown-up and dignifi...

This conversation took place after the puppies had eaten their dinner and were supposed to be taking their afternoon nap. Tim was stretched out on the lawn in the sun, having a...

“The tree-climbing animal has been up here,” cried Ann, sniffing at the bark of a tree. And when they looked up they saw a brown squirrel peeping at them from a branch.

The puppies found themselves in a hole in two senses of the word. It wasn’t a nice hole either, but a deep one, cold and damp, too, and with no enticing smells. It had once been...

And now I want to tell you what was happening at home. A little girl called Ruth, who was very fond of the puppies, came to see them on her way home from a party. She loved play...

Puppies don’t have meat to eat; they don’t really need it till they are grown up. However, sometimes as a great treat, Timette and Ann would be given a bone. They always had one...

Dogs are very like children who never grow up. But a child would have to have a very loving heart to be as fond of any one as a dog. A dog is so faithful, too; he never tires of...

When Ann grew up she was given to Ruth as a birthday present; or to be quite truthful, she gave herself, for she was so fond of Ruth that she followed her about everywhere, and...

“Spiders!” you say. “Ugh! what dreadful things. I don’t want to read about them.” But surely any one as big as you are need not be afraid of a poor little spider. Don’t you reme...

One day Emma felt very hungry; her larder was quite empty and she had been without food for nearly a week. It was a fine evening, with just a gentle little wind blowing, so she...

In the morning she was still watching and waiting, but at last there was a sound. A deep humming was heard in the air as if a fairy aeroplane were passing. It was so loud that e...

I don’t believe you are feeling a bit afraid of spiders now, are you? There is no reason why we should fear them, for they don’t bite or sting us; and if they did the poison tha...

I will tell you about a little house-spider who had a very exciting adventure. She had made a beautiful web in the corner of a bedroom, high up near the ceiling. One day her sen...

Before a spider lays her eggs, she spins some web on the ground. She goes over it again and again, spinning all the time, till it looks like a piece of gauze. Into this she lays...

I wonder if you have ever watched young chickens. You can’t help liking such babyish, fluffy little things; they are so sweet and so different from the grown-up hens. I know a l...

As yet only one small family of chickens had come out of their eggs but they were quite enough for Joan to play with. She soon made friends with them and gave them all names. Th...

I wonder if you have ever seen a hen feed her chickens. It is a pretty sight. She scratches on the ground, and when she finds something to eat, she calls her children. “Tuk, tuk...

It is very funny to see chickens drink. If you have ever watched them you must have noticed how they dive their beaks into the water and then quickly hold up their heads. They d...

You know, I expect, that cocks are given to fighting; that is why you seldom see two cocks in the same run. The hens are different and live together very happily; they are too b...

I don’t think this fight would have happened if the mother hen had been about, but through some mistake she had been shut up for an hour with some other hens who were not mother...

Hatching out is an exciting time. The hen has to sit on the eggs and keep them warm and quiet for three whole weeks. It needs a lot of patience, doesn’t it? Joan knew there were...

I want to tell you about two little Persian kittens called Tompkins and Minette. They were the prettiest you have ever seen with their long fluffy fur, their small ears and litt...

I am afraid Tompkins was rather inclined to be greedy. He used to watch his mother Salome having her afternoon saucer of milk and he just longed to have some too. It looked so n...

One day Minette smelt a nice fishy smell. It tempted her out of the room, down a passage and round a corner till she arrived at the kitchen. Here she came face to face with a st...

His chance came that same afternoon. Minette, tired out with her exciting adventure and with all the stories she had told about it, was having a sound sleep, no one was about an...

Tompkins was thunderstruck. He had never been used to hearing his dignified mother spoken of like this, and thought the kittens were very rude. “My mother is very beautiful and...

When Tompkins got back, however, Salome was looking anything but beautiful. In fact she was looking as ugly and disagreeable a cat as you can imagine. You see, she wanted brushi...

When Ugly had got a good way up, he looked down and saw the tea tray. “I know a better game than this!” he cried and got down as quickly as he could. “All this exercise makes me...

I don’t know what would have happened if no one had heard them, for the little kitchen kittens were very busy with the milk, and even if they had wanted to, they wouldn’t have k...

But the little kitchen kittens didn’t wonder, they knew it was their old mother, Tibby, who had missed her babies and was calling for them. They liked her ugly voice and they an...

The kittens were the first to wake up the next morning. They couldn’t resist talking about the kitchen kittens, there was so much to say. Salome went on pretending to be asleep.