



Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Sankar Viswanathan, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net









                      [Illustration: DANDELIONS]

           Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
           Let the Kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_ have _you_!




                         CHILD SONGS OF CHEER



                                  BY

                            EVALEEN STEIN



                           ILLUSTRATIONS BY

                          ANTOINETTE INGLIS




                                BOSTON

                      LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

                       Published, August, 1918



                           COPYRIGHT, 1918,
                    BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

       *       *       *       *       *




    _Dear Children, all the little words
      These printed pages through,
    They are a flock of little birds
      I bring to sing to you.

    Sometimes they sing of foolish things,
      And other times they try
    To tell their gladness when their wings
      Soar up to seek the sky.

    So, Sweethearts, do but kindly hark!
      If but a sparrow throng,
    Or if among them there's a lark,
      To you their songs belong!_

       *       *       *       *       *




Contents


Up, Little Ones!

Dandelions

Our Puppies

The Lost Balloon

The Circus Procession

May-Baskets

The Picture-Book Giant

Did You Ever?

Decoration Day

Chu-Chu Cars

Fairy Rings

The Firefly

A Rain Song

Fairies

The Little Fir-Trees

The Wren-House

The Baby's Ride

An Indian Raid

The First Sleigh-Ride

Sleepy Time

When Bettie and Anne Went Walking

The Bluebird

The Organ-Grinder

The New Moon

Showery Time

Easter Day

The Sandman

Dandelion Curls

Pop-Corn

The Rash Little Sparrow

What If?

Easter Eggs

The Birds' Bath

November Morning

The Runaway

Lost!

The Queen's Page

Our Tree-Toad

In the Water-World

Who Was It?

Visiting Day

A Valentine to Catherine

Fireflies

The Rainy Day

The First Red-Bird

The Weather-Vane

The Swan

Baby's Baking

A Sure Sign

Another Sure Sign

The Robin's Bath

The Frosted Pane

The First Snow

Grandfather Knows

Sleigh-Bells

The Red-Bird

Wild Beasts

Wherefore Wings?

Basking

With a May-Basket for Baby Agnes

The Little Nest

Christmas Candles

A Song of the Christmas-Tree

Our Kittens

In July

A Valentine to a Little Child

Zip!

A Little Carol

Song

The Three Candles

       *       *       *       *       *




Illustrations


DANDELIONS

Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
Let the kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_
have _you_!                                   _Frontispiece_

FAIRY RINGS

See them dancing, dancing,
While the silver moon
Tips their swiftly glancing
Little silver shoon!

THE BIRDS' BATH

When the sun shines warm and high
Robins cluster round its brink

CHRISTMAS CANDLES

We can tell Him of our love
If we set a light for Him

       *       *       *       *       *




Child Songs of Cheer

UP, LITTLE ONES!


    A robin redbreast, fluting there
      Upon the apple-bough,
    Is telling all the world how fair
      Are apple-blossoms now;
    The honey-dew its sweetness spills
      From cuckoo-cups, and all
    The crocuses and daffodils
      Are drest for festival!

    Such pretty things are to be seen,
      Such pleasant things to do,
    The April earth it is so green,
      The April sky so blue,
    The path from dawn to even-song
      So joyous is to-day,
    Up, little ones! and dance along
      The lilac-scented way!




DANDELIONS


    Hey-a-day-a-day, my dear! Dandelion time!
    Come, and let us make for them a pretty little rhyme!

    See the meadows twinkling now, beautiful and bright
    As the sky when through the blue shine the stars at night!

    Once upon a time, folks say, mighty kings of old
    Met upon a splendid field called "The Cloth of Gold."

    But, we wonder, could it be there was ever seen
    Brighter gold than glitters now in our meadows green?

    Dandelions, dandelions, shining through the dew,
    Let the kings have Cloth of Gold, but let _us_ have _you_!




OUR PUPPIES


    Little ears as soft as silk,
    Little teeth as white as milk,
    Little noses cool and pink,
    Little eyes that blink and blink,
    Little bodies round and fat,
    Little hearts that pit-a-pat,
    Surely prettier puppies never
    Were before nor can be ever!




THE LOST BALLOON


    O dear! my purple toy balloon
    Has flown away! and very soon
    It will be high up as the moon!

    And don't you think the man up there
    Will wonder what it is, and stare?
    Perhaps hell say, "_Well, I declare!_"

    Or, maybe if it chance there are
    Some little boys in yonder star,
    And if it floats away so far,

    Perhaps they'll jump up very high
    And catch the cord as it goes by!
    At any rate I hope they'll try!




THE CIRCUS PROCESSION


    _Oh, hurry! hurry!_ here they come,
    The band in front with the big bass drum
    And blaring bugles,--there they are,
    On golden thrones in a golden car,
    Tooting and fluting, oh, how grand!
                Hi diddle, diddle!
                The fife and the fiddle!
    _Hurrah, hurrah_ for the circus band!

    And the red-plumed horses, oh, see them prance
    And daintily lift their hoofs and dance,
    While beautiful ladies with golden curls
    Are jingling their bridles of gold and pearls,
                And close behind
                Come every kind
    Of animal cages great and small,
    O how I wonder what's in them all!

    Here's one that's open and glaring there
    Is the shaggiest snow-white polar bear!
    _Woof!_ but I wonder what we'd do
    If his bars broke loose right now, don't you?
                And O dear me!
                Just look and see
    That pink-cheeked lady in skirts of gauze
    And the great big lion with folded paws!
                O me! O my!
                I'm glad that I
    Am not in that lion's cage, because
    _Suppose he'd open his horrible jaws!_
    --But look! the clown is coming! Of course
    Facing the tail of a spotted horse
    And shouting out things to make folks laugh,
    And grinning up at the tall giraffe
    That placidly paces along and looks
    Just like giraffes in the picture-books!

    And there are the elephants, two and two,
    Lumbering on as they always do!
    The men who lead them look so small
    I wonder the elephants mind at all
                As they wag their queer
                Long trunks, and peer
    Through their beady eyes,--folks say they know
    No end of things, and I'm sure it's so!
    And you never must do a thing that's bad
    Or that possibly might make an elephant mad,
    For he'll never forgive you, it appears,
    And will punish you sure, if it takes him _years!_
                So do not stare
                But take good care
    To mind your manners, and always try
    To smile politely as they go by!

    But the camels don't care if you laugh at them
    With their bumpy humps like a capital M,
                They lurch and sway
                And seem to say,
    As they wrinkle their noses, long and gray,
    "This swaggering stride is quite the plan,
    It's the way we walked in the caravan!"

    And now more cages come rumbling by
    With glittering people throned on high;
    So many spangles and precious things,
    They surely must all be queens and kings!
                They look so proud
                Above the crowd,
    O my, how fine it must feel to ride
    On golden wagons that hide inside
    Strange animals caught in cannibal isles
    And brought in ships for a million miles!
                But hark! it's near
                The end, for hear
    That sudden screeching in piercing key!
    The steaming, screaming _cal-li-o-pe_!
    Just plain pianos sound terribly tame
    Beside this one with the wonderful name,
    And wouldn't you love some day to sit
    In a circus wagon and play on it?




MAY-BASKETS


    Let us take our baskets early
      To the meadows green,
    While the wild-flowers still are pearly
      With the dewdrops' sheen.

    Fill them full of blossoms rosy,
      Violets and gay
    Cowslips, every pretty posy
      Welcoming the May.

    Then our lovely loads we'll carry
      Down the village street,
    On each door, with laughter merry,
      Hang a basket sweet.

    Hey-a-day-day! It is spring now,
      Lazy folks, awake!
    See the pretty things we bring now
      For the May-day's sake!




THE PICTURE-BOOK GIANT


    Once there was a fierce, defiant,
    Greedy, grumpy, grizzly giant
      In the pages of a picture-book, and he
    Sometimes screamed, in sudden rages,
    "I must jump out from these pages,
      For this life's a much too humdrum one for me!
                  Fiddle-dee!
      Yes, this life's a quite too quiet one for me!"

    So one rainy day he did it,
    Took the picture-book and hid it,
      Stamped his foot, and shouting loudly,
          "Now I'm free!"
    Boldly started out, forgetting
    That he could not stand a wetting!
    He was just a paper giant, don't you see?
              Dearie me!
    Just a gaudy, picture giant, don't you see?




DID YOU EVER?


    Did you ever see a fairy in a rose-leaf coat and cap
    Swinging in a cobweb hammock as he napped his noonday nap?

    Did you ever see one waken very thirsty and drink up
    All the honey-dew that glimmered in a golden buttercup?

    Did you ever see one fly away on rainbow-twinkling wings?
    If you did not, why, how comes it that you never see such things?




DECORATION DAY


    See the soldiers, little ones!
      Hark the drummers' beat!
    See them with their flags and guns
      Marching down the street!

    Tattered flags from out the wars,
      Let us follow these
    To the little stripes and stars
      Twinkling through the trees.

    Watch them waving through the grass
      Where the heroes sleep!
    Thither gently let us pass
      On this day we keep.

    Let us bring our blossoms, too,
      All our gardens grow;
    Lilacs honey-sweet with dew,
      And the lilies' snow.

    Every posy of the May,
      Every bloomy stem,
    Every bud that breaks to-day
      Gather now for them.

    Lay the lilies o'er them thus,
      Lovingly, for so
    Down they laid their lives for us,
      Long and long ago.

    Heap above them bud and bough;
      Softly, ere we cease,
    God, we pray Thee, gently now
      Fold them in Thy peace!




CHU-CHU CARS


    Turn the chairs down in a row
    Each behind the other, so;
    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu!_ there they are,
    Passenger and baggage-car,
    _Chu-chu-chu!_ the Morris chair
    Is the engine puffing there,
    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu! Ting-a-ling!_
    Don't you hear its big bell ring?
    All aboard! Jump on! if you
    Want to take this train. _Chu-chu!!_
    Off we start now, rushing fast
    Through the fields and valleys, past
    Noisy cities, over bridges,
    Hills and plains and mountain ridges,
    _Chu-chu! Chu-chu! Chu-chu-chu!!_
    At such speed it must be true
    Since we started we have come
    Most a million miles from home!
    Jump off, some one! Quick! and go
    To the pantry, for, you know,
    We must have the cookie-jar
    For our Pullman dining-car!




FAIRY RINGS


    Softly in the gloaming
      Flitting through the vale,
    Fairy folk are roaming
      Over hill and dale.

    Pixies in the hollow,
      Elves upon the height,
    Let us follow, follow
      Through the paling light.

    Follow, all unbidden,
      To the grassy glade
    Wrapped around and hidden
      In the forest shade.

    Hark the elfin tinkle
      Of their little lutes!
    Mark the golden twinkle
      Of their fairy flutes!

[Illustration: FAIRY RINGS]

    See them dancing, dancing,
      While the silver moon
    Tips their swiftly glancing
      Little silver shoon!

    Tripping, tripping lightly,
      Where their footprints fall,
    Look! the grass is brightly
      Growing green and tall!

    Springing close, unbroken,
      In a fairy ring,
    For to-morrow's token
      Of their frolicking!




THE FIREFLY


    Flash and flicker and fly away,
      Trailing light as you flutter far,
    Are you a lamp for the fairies, say?
      Or a flake of fire from a falling star?




A RAIN SONG


              Tinkle, tinkle,
                Lightly fall
      On the peach buds, pink and small;
    Tip the tiny grass, and twinkle
      On the clover, green and tall.

              Tinkle, tinkle,--
                Faster now,
      Little rain-drops, smite and sprinkle
    Cherry-bloom and apple-bough!
    Pelt the elms, and show them how
              You can dash!
                And splash! splash! splash!
    While the thunder rolls and mutters,
      And the lightnings flash and flash!
              Then eddy into curls
              Of a million misty swirls,
    And thread the air with silver, and embroider it with pearls!

    And patter, patter, patter
    To a quicker time, and clatter
      On the streaming window-pane;
              Rain, rain,
                On the leaves,
                  And the eaves,
      And the turning weather-vane!

    Rush in torrents from the tip
    Of the gable-peak, and drip
      In the garden-bed, and fill
        All the cuckoo-cups, and pour
              More and more
      In the tulip-bowls, and still
                Overspill
      In a crystal tide until
      Every yellow daffodil
    Is flooded to its golden rim, and brimming o'er and o'er!

    Then as gently as the low
      Muffled whir of robin wings,
      Or a sweep of silver strings,
                Even so,
        Take your airy April flight
        Through the merry April light,
    And melt into a mist of rainy music as you go!




FAIRIES


    Grandfather says that sometimes,
      When stars are twinkling and
    A new moon shines, there come times
      When folks see fairy-land!

    So when there's next a new moon,
      I mean to watch all night!
    Grandfather says a blue moon
      Is best for fairy light,

    And in a peach-bloom, maybe,
      If I look I shall see
    A little fairy baby
      No bigger than a bee!




THE LITTLE FIR-TREES


    Hey! little evergreens,
      Sturdy and strong!
    Summer and autumn time
      Hasten along;
    Harvest the sunbeams, then,
      Bind them in sheaves,
    Range them, and change them
      To tufts of green leaves.
    Delve in the mellow mold,
      Far, far below,
            And so,
      Little evergreens, grow!
            Grow, grow!
    Grow, little evergreens, grow!

    Up, up so airily
      To the blue sky,
    Lift up your leafy tips
      Stately and high;
    Clasp tight your tiny cones,
      Tawny and brown;
    By and by, buffeting
      Rains will pelt down;
    By and by, bitterly
      Chill winds will blow;
            And so,
      Little evergreens, grow!
            Grow, grow!
    Grow, little evergreens, grow!

    Gather all uttermost
      Beauty, because,--
    Hark, till I tell it now!
      How Santa Claus,
    Out of the northern land,
      Over the seas,
    Soon shall come seeking you,
      Evergreen trees!
    Seek you with reindeer soon,
      Over the snow;
            And so,
      Little evergreens, grow!
            Grow, grow!
    Grow, little evergreens, grow!

    What if the maples flare
      Flaunting and red,
    You shall wear waxen white
      Tapers instead!
    What if now, otherwhere,
      Birds are beguiled,
    You shall yet nestle
      The little Christ-child!
    Ah! the strange splendor
      The fir-trees shall know!
            And so,
      Little evergreens, grow!
            Grow, grow!
    Grow, little evergreens, grow!




THE WREN-HOUSE


    Yesterday I took my saw
      And some bits of wood,
    And I made a little house
      Nicely as I could.

    I put on a mossy-green
      Little pointed roof,
    And I cut a tiny door
      That is pussy-proof.

    For I hope some little