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Five Minute Stories cover

Five Minute Stories

Chapter 8: A LESSON SONG.

By Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards

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About This Book

A lively collection of short stories and poems for children, offering simple domestic scenes, playful rhymes, brief narratives, and light moral lessons. Pieces range from tender portraits of family life and child play to fanciful nonsense verses, seasonal and holiday sketches, animal vignettes, and concise character studies, often keyed to children's imagination and daily activities. Language is straightforward and rhythmic, with songs and jingles interspersed among short tales; many pieces aim to charm or amuse while gently reinforcing kindness, curiosity, and good manners. Illustrations accompany several items, enhancing the accessible tone and appeal to young readers.

A LESSON SONG.

Oranges and apples,

And baby’s ball, are round;

And my pretty picture-book,

That is square, I’ve found;

And an egg is oval,

And the corners all,

When you take them by themselves,

Triangles they call.

I am perpendicular

When I stand up straight,

I am horizontal

When in bed I wait;

And from sitting quite erect,

If I chance to swerve,

Then my rounded shoulders make

What is called a curve.

See! a sheet of paper

I roll together neat,

Straight and smooth, and then I have

A cylinder complete;

But if thus I widen out

Either end alone,

Look! it makes a different thing,—

That is called a cone.

Points there are, a many,

On my pencil one,

Two on mother’s scissors,

Five a star has on;

And our doggie has one

Right upon his nose,

And my dancing-master says,

“Children, point your toes!”

Oh! the world of wonders

Is so very full,

How can little children learn

Half enough in school?

I must look about me

Everywhere I go,

Keep my eyes awake and wise,

There’s such a lot to know.