Maid Maleen

The Prince marries his true bride.

       There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter of a mighty King. She was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the Prince was rejected. But since they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, "I can and will take no other for my husband." 

        Then the King flew into a passion, and ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, "Therein shall you be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if your perverse spirit is broken." 

        Meat and drink for the seven years were carried into the tower; and then she and her waiting-woman were led into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night began.

        The King's Son often went round and round the tower, and called their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile, the time passed, and by the small amount of food and drink left they knew that the seven years were coming to an end. They thought the moment of their deliverance was come. But no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had forgotten her. 

        As they had food for only a short time longer, and saw a miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, "We must try our last chance, and see if we can break through the wall." She took the bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn. With great labor they succeeded in getting out one stone, then a second, and third. And when three days were over, the first ray of light fell on their darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look out. 

        The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible. 

        When the opening in the wall was large enough for them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. 

        They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread. Their need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with nettle-plants. When, after long journeying, they came into another country, they tried to get work everywhere. But wherever they knocked they were turned away, and no one would have pity on them.

        At last they arrived in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in the kitchen and be scullions. The King's Son in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen another Bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked.

        The wedding was fixed, and the girl had already arrived. Because of her great ugliness, however, she shut herself in her room, and allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals from the kitchen. When the day came for the Bride and the Bridegroom to go to church, she was ashamed of her ugliness, and afraid that if she showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by the people. Then said she to Maid Maleen, "A great piece of luck has befallen you. I have sprained my foot, and cannot walk through the streets. You shall put on my wedding-clothes and take my place. A greater honor than that you cannot have."

       Maid Maleen, however, refused it, and said, "I wish for no honor which is not suitable for me." It was in vain, too, that the Bride offered her gold. At last she said angrly "If you do not obey me, it shall cost you your life. I have but to speak the word, and your head will lie at your feet." 

        Then she was forced to obey, and put on the Bride's magnificent clothes and all her jewels. When she entered the royal hall, every one was amazed at her great beauty, and the King said to his son, "This is the Bride whom I have chosen for you, and whom you must lead to church." 

        The Bridegroom was astonished, and thought, "She is like my Maid Maleen, and I should believe that it was she herself, but she has long been shut up in the tower or dead." He took her by the hand and led her to church. 

        On the way was a nettle-plant, and the maiden said: "Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant so small! What are you doing here, Alone by the wall if I have the time known, When unroasted, unboiled, I ate thee alone!" 

        "What are you saying?" asked the King's Son. 

        "Nothing," she replied, "I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." He was surprised that she knew about her, but kept silence. When they came to the 'foot-plank into the churchyard, she said: "Foot-bridge, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "What are you saying there?" asked the King's Son. 

        "Nothing," she replied, " I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." When they came to the church-door, she said once more: "Church-door, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "What are you saying there? " asked he.

        "Ah," she answered, " I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." 

        Then he took out a precious chain, put it round her neck, and fastened the clasp. Thereupon they entered the church, and the priest joined their hands together before the altar, and married them. He led her home, but she did not speak a single word the whole way. When they got back to the royal palace, she hurried into the Bride's chamber, put off the magnificent clothes and the jewels, dressed herself in her gray gown, and kept nothing but the jewel on her neck, which she had received from the Bridegroom. 

        When the night came, and the ugly Bride was to be led into the apartment of the King's Son, she let her veil fall over her face, that he might not observe the deception. As soon as every one had gone away, he said to her, "What did you say to the nettle-plant which was growing by the way-side?" 

        "To which nettle-plant? " asked she; "I don't talk to nettle- plants." 

        "If you did not do it, then you are not the true Bride," said he. 

        So she bethought herself, and said: "I must go my maid to see, Who keeps my secret thoughts for me." She went out and sought Maid Maleen. "Girl, what have you been saying to the nettle? " 

        "I said nothing but: "Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant so small! What are you doing here, Alone by the wall? I have the time known, When unroasted, unboiled, I ate thee alone!" 

        The ugly Bride ran back into the chamber, and said, " I know now what I said to the nettle," and she repeated the words which she had just heard. 

        "But what did you say to the foot-bridge when we went over it? " asked the King's Son. 

        "To the foot-bridge?" she answered. "I don't talk to foot-bridges." 

        "Then you are not the true Bride." She again said: "I must go my maid to see, Who keeps my secret thoughts for me," and ran out and found Maid Maleen. " Girl, what did you say to the foot-bridge?" 

        "I said nothing but: "Foot-bridge, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "That costs you your life!" cried the ugly Bride, but she hurried into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the foot-bridge," and she repeated the words. 

        "But what did you say to the church-door? " 

        "To the church-door? " she replied; " I don't talk to church- doors." 

        " Then you are not the true Bride." 

        She went out and found Maid Maleen, and said, "Girl, what did you say to the church-door?"

        "I said nothing but: "Church-door, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

       "That will break your neck for you! "cried the Bride, and flew into a terrible passion, but she hastened back into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the church-door," and she repeated the words." 

        But where have you the jewel which I gave you at the church-door?" 

        "What jewel?" she answered; "you did not give me any jewel." 

        "I myself put it round your neck, and I myself fastened it. If you do not know that, you are not the true Bride." He drew the veil from her face, and when he saw her ugliness, he sprang back terrified, and said, "How come you here? Who are you? " 

        "I am your betrothed Bride, but because I feared lest the people should mock me when they saw me out of doors, I commanded the scullery-maid to dress herself in my clothes, and to go to church instead of me." 

        "Where is the girl? " said he; "I want to see her, go and bring her here." She went out and told the servants that the scullery-maid was an impostor, and that they must take her out into the courtyard and strike off her head. The servants laid hold of Maid Maleen and wanted to drag her out, but she screamed so loudly for help, that the King's Son heard her voice, hurried out of his chamber and ordered them to set the maiden free. Lights were brought, and then he saw on her neck the gold chain which he had given her at the church-door. ' 'You are the true Bride," said he," who went with me to church. Come with me now to my room." When they were both alone, he said, "On the way to the church you did name Maid Maleen, who was my betrothed Bride. If I could believe it possible, I should think she was standing before me — you are like her in every respect." 

        She answered, "I am Maid Maleen, who for your sake was imprisoned seven years in the darkness, who suffered hunger and thirst, and has lived so long in want and poverty. Today, however, the sun is shining on me once more. I was married to you in the church, and I am your lawful wife." 

        Then they kissed each other, and were happy all the days of their lives. The false Bride was rewarded for what she had done by having her head cut off. The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it, they sang:

 

"Eling, klang, gloria.

 Who sits within this tower? 

 A King's Daughter, she sits within, 

 A sight of her I cannot win, 

 The wall it will not break, 

 The stone cannot be pierced. 

 Little Hans, with your coat so gay, 

 Follow me, follow me, 

 fast as you may.

Tiny Post Office Printables

        To make "priority mail" or U. S. "air mail envelopes" fold and wrap a message on a separate piece of doll-sized stationary. Then slip this inside a white pocket folded using decorative or plain white typing paper. Print out the covers for either kind of mail and paste them onto the envelope. Fill out the address and send it away through the Dolly Post!

Priority Express Mail Envelope Covers for 18 inch doll post office supply.

Priority Express Mail Envelope Covers for
12 inch doll post office supply.

U. S. Airmail envelope tops for 18 inch doll post office play.

U. S. Airmail envelope tops for 12 inch
 doll post office play.

Johnny Mouse and The Wishing Stick

Johnny Mouse scolds the Woozgoozle for eating baby chics.

        Johnny Mouse was a cute, little tiny mouse. He lived with Gran’ma and Gran’pa Mouse in a little cigar-box house. In the little cigar-box house there was a tiny little kitchen where Gran’ma Mouse cooked nice things for Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse. Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse also ate in the kitchen at a tiny table, for the little cigar-box house did not have a dining-room. 

        Then there was a bedroom and a living-room in the tiny cigar-box house. The bedroom was where Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse slept at night. There were three little soft white beds which Gran’pa Mouse had made out of pasteboard boxes. One for Gran-ma, one for Gran’pa and one for Johnny Mouse.

        The living room was the largest room in the little cigar-box house, but that was quite small. Here of evenings Gran’ma sat and knitted while Gran’pa read the news and smoked his little pipe, or here they sat and visited with their friends. The little living-room contained two or three little rocking chairs, a couch, a center table with tiny lamp upon it, and a lovely organ. No one played upon the organ tor it was only a picture which Gran’ma had clipped from a large magazine and pasted upon the wall. 

        But from across the little Mouse living-room it looked like a real organ, for it was beautifully colored. All around the little cigar-box house was a tiny picket fence to keep the mischievous bug boys out of Gran’pa Mouse’s garden. 

        The fence was made out of burnt matches which Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse had gathered and carried there in a little pasteboard wheelbarrow. There was also a tiny well back of the house, near the kitchen door and the bucket was made from an acorn.

Johnny Mouse pulled out two of Gran'ma's lovely sugared
doughnuts. "There!" he said, "eat those."

        Gran’pa and Johnny were working in the garden, and every once in a while Gran'pa and Johnny Mouse wiggled their pink noses and looked toward the kitchen. 

        “Did Gran’ma call us?" Johnny Mouse finally asked. 

        “I believe she did!’ Gran’pa Mouse laughed, as he wiggled his nose. 

        “No, I did not call you!” Gran’ma said, when Johnny and Gran’pa Mouse looked in the kitchen door. She knew they had scented the lovely doughnuts she was cooking. 

        “Have you finished weeding the garden?” Gran’ma asked. 

        “It is all finished!” said Gran’pa Mouse. 

        “Then let’s have a picnic!” Gran’ma said, as she took the last of the doughnuts out of the kettle and rolled them in sugar. 

        Gran’pa drew an acorn bucket full of water from the little well and he and Johnny Mouse washed their faces and hands. Gran’ma Mouse packed a little basket full of doughnuts and other things and put on her pretty little bonnet. Johnny carried the little basket and ran ahead down the path through the woods. 

        Soon Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse came to Chicky Town and there they found all the Chickies crying. 

        “Dear me! Why do you cry?” Gran’ma and Gran'pa and Johnny Mouse asked them.

        “We are crying because this is the day the Woozgoozle is to come and eat some of us!” said a large Rooster Chicky. “The Woozgoozle comes once a week, carries.two or three of us to his cave and eats us!” 

        “But he has no right to do that!” said Gran’ma, as she stamped her little foot. 

        “Here he comes now!” cried all the Chickies, as they began running this way and that and hurrying into their houses. 

        Down the path Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse could hear the Woozgoozle coming. “Kerlumpity, kerlumpity!’ And presently he came to the first Chicky house. There he found two fat Chickies, and putting them into a sack he turned back up the road. 

        When the Woozgoozle left, all the Chickies came out of their houses and squawked and cackled until ‘Gran’ ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse had to hold their hands over their ears. 

        Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse sadly left Chicky Town and went down the road in the very same direction the Woozgoozle had taken. 

        Johnny Mouse ran ahead, and soon beside the path, lying upon a stone, fast asleep, he saw the Woozgoozle. Johnny waited quietly until Gran’ma and Gran’pa Mouse came up to him. “He has eaten the Chickies!’ Johnny said. Sure enough feathers were scattered all about. 

        Johnny Mouse climbed upon the stone and bit the Wooz- goozle upon his heel. 

        “Wow! the Woozgoozle cried as he sat up and rubbed his eves. “A bee must have stung me!’ Then seeing Johnny Mouse standing there he asked, “Did you do that?”

        “Yes!” said Johnny Mouse. “You should be ashamed, eating the Chickies! What if some one should eat up your mother or your father or someone whom you loved? That wouldn't be very nice, would it?”

        The Woozgoozle rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hadn't thought of that! All I thought of was how hungry | was. I'm so hungry now I'll have to get some more Chickies !"

       "Gran’ma and Gran'pa Mouse then climbed upon the rock beside Johnny. “No, you won't!” said Gran’pa Mouse. “It is wrong for you to take the Chickies away from one another.” 

        “But I must eat something!” sighed the Woozgoozle. 

        Johnny House reached into his basket and pulled out two of Gran'ma’s lovely sugared doughnuts. “There!” he said, ‘eat those."

        “My! Aren't they good?” cried the Woozgoozle. ‘They are ever so much better than Chickies! Yum, yum!" 

        “Give him some more, Johnny!” said Gran’pa Mouse. 

        So the Woozgoozle was given all of the picnic lunch to eat: sixteen doughnuts, nine cream puffs and a lemon pie.

        “Tell me where you find these things to eat and I'll promise never to eat another Chicky!” said the Woozgoozle. 

        “Gran’ma makes them!” said Johnny Mouse. 

        “Isn't that strange? I never knew any one could make anything to eat. I thought one had to catch things!” 

        “Wait until you taste ice-cream!” said Johnny Mouse. “And candy! Gran’ma makes everything like that, and they are better to eat than doughnuts and pie!"

        “If that is true, I am, indeed, sorry that I ever ate any of the Chickies,” said the Woozgoozle. ‘After this IT will never bother them again!"

        “You must come home with us,” Gran’ma Mouse said, “and I will teach you how to make doughnuts and other nice things to eat.”

        This pleased the Woozgoozle very much.

        Now, Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse were very hungry by this time, so they decided they would return home. 

        When they came to Chicky Town all the Chickies began cackling when they saw the Woozgoozle, but Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse told them the Woozgoozle had promised never to eat any of them again and so the Chickies were very happy. 

        Gran’ma and Gran‘pa and Johnny Mouse and the Woozgoozle finally reached the little cigar-box house and Gran’ma got supper while Gran'pa set the table and Johnny Mouse and the Woozgoozle washed their faces and hands and brushed their hair. 

        Then they sat down at the table. It was hard to get the Woozgoozle to eat anything except doughnuts and pie and cream puffs, for he liked them very much and did not know (like a good many children) that too many sweets are apt to give one a stomach-ache. 

        Then, when supper was over, and the dishes washed and wiped, Johnny showed the Woozgoozle his scrapbook with pretty pictures in it, until time for bed. 

        “Well!” said Gran’pa, as he took off his shoes and put on his house slippers, “it turned out a delightful picnic after all.” 

        And Gran’ma Mouse, thinking of the kindness they had done for Chicky Town, sighed contentedly, and replied: 

        “Yes, indeed, Gran’pa, and I feel that the Woozgoozle from now on will be a very kindly creature!’ And so he proved to be as you shall soon learn. story and pictures by Johnny Gruelle

The Woozgoozle in our story above is a pint sized "least weasel." 

by Wildlife Wednesday segment here describes his true 

nature and habitat.

Woverine Dollhouses from 1974

        The Town and Country metal doll house manufactured in 1974 was a modern contemporary doll house with 6 completely furnished rooms. Sturdy steel colorfully decorated inside and out. Plastic furniture was of the latest modern design. The windows and door opened and were made of plastic. The entire house was 17 12" tall and 12 inches deep. Each house had photolithography details with brilliant color printed on the steel walls. 

Front and back sides of doll houses photographed in detail above and below.

       The Colonial version also included roof made with rugged hardboard. It came lithographed on both the interior and exterior. It's modern furnishings were perfectly scaled for each of it's six rooms as well. It's windows were made with three dimensional plastic  that could be opened and shut just like the door. Every house from Woverine came packed flat but could be easily constructed with nuts and bolts.

products for children manufactured by Woverine, 1974

       The Colonial Mansion doll house came with a two car garage and the decorated interior was designed and colorized after traditional Early American homes. This doll house also included a cupola with a moving weather vane.
       Woverine also made a service station to scale that same year modeled after Texaco Colonial service stations. This station was a fully lithographed steel building with a platform. All of the windows and doors opened and shut. There were two gas pumps, one air pump, two plastic cars and one tow truck included.

22 Facts About Child Life in The American Colonies

This boy was painted with his pet, a flying 
squirrel, by John Singleton Copley in 1765.

       Below are 22 facts about how children lived in the American colonies.

1. Children under six years of age wore "puddings" around their waists and heads. Puddings were stuffed pillows shaped to fit around the waist or head. If a baby fell, the pillow would cushion that fall and hopefully prevent accidents that might permanently damage the child.
2. Children wore fashions that looked just like their parents clothing only in miniature, once they turned six years old.
3. Children's clothing was sewn by their family members or someone in their own community. Those clothes were made of wool, linen or cotton.
4. Adults dyed the fabric used to make clothing for their family with berries, roots or flowers
5. Little girls learned to knit and spin when they were quite young and boys learned to weave.
6. Girls kept their hair covered most of the time with different types of hats and scarves. 
7. Young boys kept their hair long, just like the girls did. However, they wore wigs if they were not doing farm work or if they were living and working in town!
8. Native Americans taught colonists how to survive and thrive by planting and harvesting corn, maple syrup, pumpkins and squash. The colonists supplemented their diets with fish, wild game, pigs, eggs and chickens. Immigrants and ship captains brought beans and seeds for planting in America on their journeys to the colonies as well.
9. In colonial times, children could not always find fresh water; they did not have indoor plumbing and very often did not have wells near their homes. So they drank hard cider and beer. But these alcoholic drinks, although fermented, did not contain high percentages of alcohol; these liquids were similar to those drank in Bible times by ordinary folk.  The fermentation process killed bacteria but it did not include methods of boiling/aging which give modern alcohol higher levels of fermentation. The colonists gave children beers/ciders that were consumed quickly and daily. In the Bible this drink is called "shekhar."
10. Children had to learn many table manners in colonial America. As a general rule if a child came to the same table the adult sat at, they were expected not to talk and to stand and to eat with their fingers!
11. Your dinner plate was made of wood and called a "trencher." You would have to share all of the food put on to it with your siblings. Children were not given their very own plates of food unless they were alone without brothers and sisters.
12. Boys and girls attended early education schools together. Their first school was called a "Dame" school. It was the place were both genders would learn to read and write from a hornbook. Their teacher was usually a woman. 
13. After colonial children finished Dame school, the boys would continue on in more advanced classes without the girls. Girls were then taught or to run a household, sew, spin, cook and clean at home. 
14. A wealthy family may choose to send their 16 year old daughter to a finishing school. In that kind of school girls learned how to embroider and embellish fabrics, how to play instruments (usually a harpsichord or English guitar), how to behave socially in order to marry a wealthy husband and how to administer accounts sometimes within the context of a home. 
15. The law in most American colonies dictated that boys had to attend school. These schools were not renowned for their comforts. Most of them had one small room, a fireplace and hard wooden benches. Few were comfortable. These schools were called ''grammar'' schools.
16. In grammar schools, boys would study Latin, Math and Literature. Then if they had no plans to become a lawyer, a clergyman, or enter into commerce, they would leave this school at the age of 10-14 to become an apprentice to a blacksmith or a carpenter etc...
17. Some boys would opt to go to sea as a cabin boy. Onboard ships they would run errands, handle the sails, do menial labor like swab the decks and carry gunpowder during battles at sea.
18. Boys from wealthy colonial families would go to college to learn a important trade for society. Many of them would travel to Europe to attend a private college if their parents could afford to send them. The earliest colonial colleges in America included Harvard and William & Mary.
19. Whenever children became sick in those days, they would be put to bed in a warm place. They would receive some kind of medicine made from herbs either by their mother or a local establishment called an "apothecary.''
20. If a child was out after dark they could very well be disciplined by the town's "watchman." The town watchman did more than just keep the public informed of the time. He watched over the streets at night and kept children at home safe with their parents too.
21. On Sundays, colonials attended either a town meetinghouse or a church to hear sermons. Children attended these activities with their parents. Sometimes children lived too far away to go to a church on Sundays. Instead, they would read and study the Bible at home with their parents.
22. Children did not play as much as you do today. They had less time for it because they helped their parents with chores. When they did play, the loved social games like tag and blind-man's buff. They also loved singing games using English rhymes and played with simple toys like hoops and sticks. Boys had pocket knives for whittling and sling shots for shooting rocks at targets; girls had dolls for dressing and pretending with too. 

Read more about Horn books

Visit The Colonial American Girl Doll Index

Learn about the wonderful foods Native Americans taught all of us how to grow!

Villains Serve An Important Purpose In Children's Literature

       Sometimes teachers may avoid reading books with villainous characters in them because they are afraid of offending parents or choosing an inappropriate topic for a particular age group. These are important considerations when one's audience is a bit young.  But, when a child reaches a more mature age, it is a mistake to avoid the portrayal of villains in their literature selections. Students need to feel a sense of self empowerment when fighting an enemy. They need to be taught that with outside help from their family and community leaders, they can fight injustice and should not be afraid to do so. 

      Children should also be made aware of their own tendencies to act a villainous part towards others, so that they may learn what is proper conduct and what behaviors are unacceptable. They must be taught the difference between correct conduct and incorrect conduct. Villains inside of story books provide for the "safe" observation of normally "unsafe" circumstances. Books with villains afford parents and teachers the opportunity to teach right from wrong without putting children in actual realistic danger. Religious leaders, the government, community educators, police officers etc... are candid about who we are, where we come from and how we should behave. Below I've listed a collection of books that I've used with my own children to teach them "how" to discern evil from good and also to teach them to laugh at villains so that they can choose not to be afraid of what can be changed. 

• "Sukey and the Mermaid" by Robert D. San Souci, Illustrated by Brian Pinkney - Within the context of a fairy tale, a little girl finds courage to defeat an abusive home environment. She also discovers that she has friends who will help her defeat the villains in her environment.
• "The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd - a wonderful book to read at Halloween time to very small children. This story teaches children to manipulate "scary things" (not evil, but scary) for a productive purpose on a very simplistic level.
• "Piggie Pie!" by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Howard Fine - One of my favorite books ever to read aloud. This story is about just "how" creative pigs can get when threatened by a silly, old witch.
• "Judy and the Volcano" by Wayne Harris - A story about how an enemy can be transformed. Judy wants to be everyone's hero, but, first she must learn how to be a friend to the girl she envies, Madeleine Corsy.
• "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury - Consider what you may look like to your enemies.
• "A Flower for Ambrose" by Anna and Edward Standon - When I was small, my father brought this book back to me after taking a short trip to Chicago. It is about an elephant named Ambrose who struggles to preserve a beautiful flower but he fails. (death is the villain of this story) Ambrose's many tears serve to water a dying plant and not long afterward the entire desert blooms because Ambrose has watered it with his very own tears. Little did I know as a child that this would be a story I would relive over and over throughout my entire life. But, my earthly and heavenly fathers knew it very well. The book is probably out of print. You will need to contact a book dealer to find it. (Delacorte Press, New York, 1964)

Make an old-fashioned penny wool rug for a doll's house...

A rectangular penny wool rug
for a doll's house. See another
kind here.

This miniature sampler of a "penny" rug provides young sewers opportunity to practice their embroidery skills. 

Supply List: 

• 4 felt squares from a hobby shop or scrap woolens (4 colors minimum) 
• penny "templates" (below) 
• contrasting embroidery floss, three colors 
• embroidery needle 
• scissors 
• pins 
• black permanent ink marker 

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Print and cut out the penny template provided below. 
2. Draw around the circle templates with a permanent ink pen after placing these on top of your felt or woolen scrapes. 
3. Cut out your penny design and pin it down onto a rectangular felt or woolen shape according to your own tastes. 
4. Use a blanket stitch to assemble the sample penny rug. 
5. Use all wool or all felt scraps for your project. Once you have mastered the technique, design a larger version to cover a tabletop or bedroom dresser.

Template for a variety of "penny" shapes.

All Kinds of Puppets

       Types of Puppets – Puppetry by its nature is a flexible and inventive medium, and many puppet companies work with combinations of puppet forms, and incorporate real objects into their performances. They might, for example, incorporate “performing objects” such as torn paper for snow, or a sign board with words as narrative devices within a production. The following are, alphabetically, the basic and conventional forms of puppet:

Black light puppet – A form of puppetry where the puppets are operated on a stage lit only with ultraviolet lighting, which both hides the puppeteer and accentuates the colours of the puppet. The puppeteers perform dressed in black against a black background, with the background and costume normally made of black velvet. The puppeteers manipulate the puppets under the light, while they position themselves unseen against the black unlit background. Controlling what the audience sees is a major responsibility of any puppeteer, and blacklight lighting provides a new way of accomplishing this. Puppets of all sizes and types are able to be used, and glow in a powerful and magical way. The original concept of this form of puppetry can be traced to Bunraku puppetry.

• Brilliant and Moving Puppet Theatre
• Black Light Theatre of Jiri Srnec

Bunraku puppet – Bunraku puppets are a tyrepe of wood-carved puppet originally made to stand out through torch illumination. Developed in Japan over a thousand years ago and formalised and combined with shamisen music at the end of the 16th century, the puppeteers dress to remain neutral against a black background, although their presence as kind of ‘shadow’ figures adds a mysterious power to the puppet. Bunraku traditionally uses three puppeteers to operate a puppet that is 2/3 life size.

• Japanese Bunraku puppets

Carnival or body puppet – usually designed to be part of a large spectacle. These are often used in parades (such as the May day parade in Minneapolis, USA) and demonstrations, and are at least the size of a human and often much larger. One or more performers are required to move the body and limbs. In parades, the appearance and personality of the person inside is not relevant to the spectator. These puppets are particularly associated with large scale entertainment, such as the nightly parades at various Disney complexes around the world. Similar puppets were designed by Julie Taymor for The Lion King.

• Nottingham Light Night 2010
• Giant Puppet Street Parade, Siem Reap, Cambodia 2012
• Little Girl Dancing – Sea Odyssey Liverpool 2012
• Rudolf Nureyev at Muppet Show
• 4 Legged Stilt Costumes
• Walking With Dinosaurs visits Urban Rush
• 2008 Tony Awards Lion King Circle of Life

Finger puppet - An extremely simple puppet variant which fits onto a single finger. Finger puppets normally have no moving parts, and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder shape to cover the finger. This form of puppet has limited application, and is used mainly in pre-schools or kindergartens for storytelling with young children.

Sock Puppet – A puppet formed from a sock and operated by inserting ones hand inside the sock. One then moves his hand up and down to give the impression of speaking. Sometimes eyes and other factors are added to the sock in order to make the puppet more realistic. Sock Puppets are also popular in many puppet performances, as they are simple to make and easy to use. They are mostly used in satirical or childish works, as they are not very professional.

Hand or glove puppet – These are puppets controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet. Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of hand puppets. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer’s hand in just the puppet’s head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet’s body then hangs over the entire arm. Other parts of the puppet (mainly arms, but special variants exist with eyelids which can be manipulated; the mouth may also open and close) are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock.

• Make a Winter Glove Puppet
• Punch & Judy May Fair – “clowning around”
• Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey

Human-arm puppet – Also called a “two-man puppet” or a “Live-hand puppet”; it is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers. One puppeteer places a hand inside the puppet’s head and operates its head and mouth, while the other puppeteer wears gloves and special sleeves attached to the puppet in order to become the puppet’s arms, so that the puppet can perform arbitrary hand gestures. This is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry.

• Audrey II from “Little Shop of Horrors”

Mechanical Extensions for Body Puppet Anatomy:

• Centaur Costume for Chronicles of Narnia

Light Curtain puppet presentations use specifically focused light to highlight small areas of a performance, allowing the puppet to be seen while the manipulators remain invisible. The puppets stand on a stage divided into an unlit background and a well-lit foreground, meeting to form a “curtain” of light. The puppeteer dresses in black and remains hidden in the unlit background of the stage while the puppet is held across the light curtain in the lit foreground of the stage. “Light curtain puppet” is an umbrella term, and any puppet which is extended into a well-lit area where its handler remains separated from the puppet by a division of light may be called a light curtain puppet.

• Funky Fingers
• Silhouettes – America’s Got Talent

Marionette or “string puppet” – These puppets are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. The control bar can be either a horizontal or vertical one. Basic strings for operation are usually attached to the head, back, hands (to control the arms) and just above the knee (to control the legs). This form of puppetry is complex and sophisticated to operate, requiring greater manipulative control than a finger, glove or rod puppet. The puppet play performed by the Von Trapp children with Maria in The Sound of Music is a marionette show.

• Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• Amsterdams Marionetten Theater – ‘De Toverfluit’ and still shots
• Puppets in Praque Marionette Carving Workshop
• A Book of Marionettes by Helen Haiman Joseph

Marotte - A simplified rod puppet that is just a head and/or body on a stick. In a marotte à main prenante, the puppeteer’s other arm emerges from the body (which is just a cloth drape) to act as the puppet’s arm. Some marottes have a small string running through the stick attached to a handle at the bottom. When the handle is squeezed, the mouth opens.

Pull String Puppet – a puppet consisting of a cloth body where in the puppeteer puts his/her arm into a slot in the back and pulls rings on strings that do certain tasks such as waving or moving the mouth.

• Mr. Punch
• Punch and Judy: free paper theater for student's journals
• Three-Dimensionaland Fully Assembled Paper Muppets

Push puppet – A push puppet consists of a segmented character on a base which is kept under tension until the button on the bottom is pressed. The puppet wiggles, slumps and then collapses, and is usually used as a novelty toy.

• Jungle push puppets

Push-in or Paper puppet, or Toy Theatre – A puppet cut out of paper and stuck onto card. It is fixed at its base to a stick and operated by pushing it in from the side of the puppet theatre. Sheets were produced for puppets and scenery from the 19th century for children’s use.

Rod Puppet – A puppet constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A large glove covers the rod and is attached to the neck of the puppet. A rod puppet is controlled by the puppeteer moving the metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet and by turning the central rod secured to the head.

• What are Hand and Rod Puppets?

Shadow puppet – A cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Shadow puppets can form solid silhouettes or be decorated with various amounts of cut-out details. Colour can be introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide a different dimension and different effects can be achieved by moving the puppet (or light source) out of focus. Javanese shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit) are the classic example of this.

• Hand shadow puppets
• Round – Hand Shadows Video by el Mago Serpico
• Free Resources Online

Supermarionation – A method invented by Gerry Anderson which assisted in his television series Thunderbirds in electronically moving the mouths of marionettes to allow for lip-synchronised speech. The marionettes were still controlled by human manipulators with strings.

Ticklebug – A ticklebug is a type of hand puppet created from a human hand to have four legs, where the puppet features are drawn on the hand itself. The middle finger is lifted as a head, and the thumb and forefinger serve as a first set of two legs on one side, while the ring finger and little finger serve as a second set of two legs on the opposite side.

• Amazing Hand Art

Table Top Puppets – A puppet usually operated by rod or direct contact from behind, on a surface similar to a table top (hence the name). Shares many characteristics with Bunraku.

• Raggedy Ann by  Alissa Hunnicutt
• Uninvited by Allissa Hunnicutt
• Pinokenstein – You Made Me

Ventriloquist dummy – A puppet operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus the audience’s attention from the performer’s activities and heighten the illusions. They are called dummies because they do not speak on their own. The ventriloquist dummy is controlled by the one hand of the ventriloquist. Such acts aren’t always performed with a traditional dummy, occasionally using other forms of puppetry.

• ABC Collectors – Ventriloquist Dummies
• Teen Ventriloquist, Megan

Water Puppet – a Vietnamese puppet form, the “Múa rối nước”. Múa rối nước literally means “puppets that dance on water”, an ancient tradition that dates back to the tenth century. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers to control them. The appearance is of the puppets moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this puppet form.

• Vietnamese Water Puppet Show
• Water Puppet Show Hanoi, Vietnam
• A Traditional Water Puppet Show in Vietnam

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Craft Seed Pod, Sweet Gum Snowmen

       Sweet gum balls are easily found in many people's yards and parks during the fall. Because of their abundance, this craft will cost young ones little pocket money to craft with. 

       Where we live, in the midwest, some city and suburban areas are beginning to outlaw Sweet Gum trees because of the trouble folks have cleaning up after them. However, Sweet Gum are not only very beautiful in the fall, these trees produce excellent pods for both restoring and maintaining soil erosion, so they are well worth any discomfort they may cause when stepped upon! So plant those Sweet Gum trees in the corner of your lawn or an out-of-they-way place...

       And . . . if you have a dollhouse to decorate, why not make a few snowy friends to display on a mantle, tabletop, dresser, or counter this winter?

Snowmen made from pods off of
a Sweet Gum tree.

 Supply List:

• seed pods from sweet gum trees
• white, black and orange craft paint
• red or green ribbon
• oven-bake clay
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• scrap cardboard
• tacky white glue
• a couple of cotton balls

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. After collecting seed pods from a Sweet Gum tree, brush them clean.
2. Cut little 'bean' shapes from the scrap cardboard for the seed pods to be hot glued to. Ask an older person to help with this part of the craft.
3. Carefully stack the seed pods on top of each other between using hot glue to keep them in place. 
4. Use white paint to brush on enough color to cover the surfaces of these seed pods. 
5. Layer on unraveled cotton balls to represent 'snow.' Use the tacky white glue to apply this, not the hot glue. Let the cotton batting covered surfaces dry before continuing.
6. Shape the oven-bake clay into small balls to represent 'coal' and pointed cones to represent 'carrots.'
7. Bake the clay in the oven according to directions on the package.
8. Shape cotton batting into tiny faux knit caps for the seed pod snowmen and glue these on using tacky white glue
9. Cut and tie on ribbon for faux scarf details.
10. Glue on the baked coal eyes and carrot noses last. Paint them black and orange.
11. Now your dolls will have cute little snow people to decorate the dollhouse with during the holidays and winter as well.

A Wiser Snowman

       The poor snowman was so cold!

       The children patted his cheeks and rubbed his arms, but they could not get him warm.

       "Would you like to wear my cap? asked Don.

       "Yes," said the snowman.

       "Would you like to wear my scarf?" asked Nancy.

       "Yes, " said the snowman.

       "Now you ought to be warm enough," said Don, and he and Nancy went in to lunch.

       When they came out after lunch, they saw what looked like tears rolling down the snowman's cheeks. His head was bent over.
       "What is the matter?" asked Nancy. "Aren't you warm enough?"
       "That is the trouble," said the snowman. "I did what would have been right enough for you, but it was wrong for me. A man must know his own needs."
       "Never mind," said Nancy, "you will be all right in a minute." She took off the scarf and cap, and Don straightened the snowman's poor, wobbly head. Then the children brought more snow and patted it onto his head and neck where they had melted away. by Marion LeBron

Playing In The Snow:

• What the children did on a snow day . . .
• "S" is for sled coloring and writing practice and Snow buddies coloring page

"The Snowy Day" animated storybook 

hosted by the EKJ Foundation