PICTURE-BOOK TIME
Whenever the rain-drops come pattering down,
And the garden's too dripping for play,
Whenever poor nursie's determined to frown,
Or mother dear's just gone away,
Then up to the nursery book-shelves we climb,
For trouble time's always a picture-book time!
When some one's been naughty, and some one is sad,
When the new walking bear will not go,
When the kitten is lost or the puppy is bad,
When Mary hates learning to sew,
Then up to the nursery book-shelves we climb,
For trouble time's always a picture-book time!
And there in the pictures the world seems so gay,
And everything always goes right.
The gardens are sunny, the children at play,
There's seldom a picture-book night.
No wonder we love to sit cosily curled,
Forgetting our woes in the picture-book world.
The dear, merry pages! we know them so well,
And when they are folded away,
Our troubles have vanished as if by a spell,
And nothing is wrong with the day.
The nursery book-shelves are easy to climb,
And no time is better than picture-book time!
HANNAH G. FERNALD.