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Bobby and Betty with the workers cover

Bobby and Betty with the workers

Chapter 45: For study and play:
By Katharine Elizabeth Dopp
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About This Book

Two young children accompany and observe neighborhood workers—milkman and his horse, iceman, baker, grocer, shoemaker, tailor, postman, newsboy, and others—discovering how everyday foods, clothing, and services are produced and delivered. Short, episodic scenes mix simple narration, playful rhymes, and hands-on activities as the children buy pies, help bake, visit shops, and earn and spend money. Each vignette pairs concrete descriptions of tasks with study prompts and play suggestions for teachers, offering practical lessons about community roles, the origins of household goods, and the connection between work and daily life.

BOBBY AND BETTY MAKE SHOES FOR DOLLY

“Dolly has lost her shoe,” said Betty. “I can’t find it anywhere.”

“Look again,” said Mother.

Betty looked and looked, but she could not find it.

Bobby looked and looked, and he could not find it.

“O Mother, what shall I do?” asked Betty.

“Make a shoe,” said Mother.

“I don’t know how,” said Betty.

“Mother will show us how to make shoes,” said Bobby. “Won’t you, Mother?”

“Yes, dear,” answered Mother.

Then Mother showed Bobby and Betty how to make shoes for Dolly.

That very day Grandfather came to see Bobby and Betty.

“See, Grandfather,” said Betty. “See dolly’s new shoes.”

“They are very nice,” said Grandfather. “Who made them?”

“I made this one,” said Betty.

“I made that one,” said Bobby.

“You are good shoemakers,” said Grandfather. “Listen and I’ll sing a shoemaker’s song.”

Bobby and Betty drew up their chairs close to Grandfather’s big chair.

Then Grandfather sang this song:

“When I was a shoemaker,
A shoemaker was I.
I went this way, and that way,
And this way, and that way.
When I was a shoemaker,
A shoemaker was I.”

“Sing it again,” said Bobby.

“Please do,” said Betty.

Then Grandfather sang the song and Bobby and Betty sang with him.

For study and play:

Little Betty Blue
Lost her holiday shoe.
What shall little Betty do?
Make her another
To match the other.
Then she’ll walk on two.

Dirty shoe, dirty shoe,
What will your mother and father do?
Said to a child whose shoes are muddy
What goes all day and sits in a corner at night?
A shoe
Tap-a-tap shoe, that would I do,
If I had a little more leather.
We’ll sit in the sun till the leather doth come,
Then we’ll tap them both together.
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some soup and a piece of white bread,
She sang them a song and put them to bed.