The Runaway Donkey and Other Rhymes for Children

(Illustrations)

Several of the rhymed stories in this book are true stories, and children may enjoy them the more for knowing that Barney, a real donkey, did run away and play pranks as the rhymes say; that Midget did ride horseback; that the deer did toss the hay to the hungry pony; and that Queen Victoria did restore the birds' nesting-place in the old round tower at Windsor. Pony Rollo, too, is a real character, clever and lovable, although some liberties have been taken in the portrayal of him and his doings. Barney Gray is still living, petted by his now grown-up owners and enjoyed by all children who visit the farm to which the donkey came about twenty years ago, and a drive with Barney is quite as likely now as in former days to have unexpected features.
The pictures of Barney and some of the other pets have been drawn by Mr. Bridgman from photographs taken expressly for this book.
In the belief that such rhymes as are herein offered gratify and increase in children both the love of animals and the sense of humor, this new volume is sent forth not only to give pleasure, but to contribute what it may to the fostering of these desirable traits.
Kindergartners will find here, as in Through the Farmyard Gate, suitable material for kindergarten use; for example, the cumulative rhyme, The Pigeons, and the tracing-back rhyme, Who Gives us Our Thanksgiving Dinner?
For courteous permission to use such of these rhymes as have already appeared in print, acknowledgments are made to publishers and periodicals as follows: The Century Company, New York (St. Nicholas); S. E. Cassino, Salem, Massachusetts (Little Folks); and Milton Bradley Co., Springfield, Massachusetts (Kindergarten Review).