FACTS IN JINGLES
FACTS IN JINGLES
By
WINIFRED SACKVILLE STONER, JR.
(Written Between the Ages of Five and Twelve)
INDIANAPOLIS
THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
Copyright 1915
The Bobbs-Merrill Company
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PRESS OF
BRAUNWORTH & CO.
BOOK MANUFACTURERS
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
Dedicated
to
Miss Katharine O'Shea
of
Madison, Wisconsin
INTRODUCTION
These jingles were written by a child for children.The young author does not expect that any one willimagine they were intended to be a contribution topoetry or literature. They will be of interest to adultsprincipally as an illustration of the way a child's mindviews some of the every-day situations of life. Grownpeople will also be interested to see how easily a youngchild can put facts into the jingle form when freedom ofexpression is acquired early.
Those who have read Mrs. Stoner's Natural Educationwill recall that Winifred learned almost as a babe to usethe typewriter. This helped her in her spelling andcomposition, so that she gained ease and freedom in expressingherself on any topic that she understood. Shewrote out everything she learned so that she might thebetter get a grasp of it and remember it. And shefound that when some kinds of facts were put togetherin a jingle they could be fixed with less effort and retainedmore securely than if they were learned in theordinary way—by rote and without any method of organization.
Rhyme and rhythm seem to furnish to the young mindan easy and effective method of relating and expressingfacts ordinarily dissociated from anything of interest toa child. As long as such facts are presented to the youngin home and school, the jingle will prove of service toteachers and parents, and of interest and value to children.In addition, some of these jingles will delight theyoung merely because of their rhythmical quality, whileothers will afford amusement because of the humorousinterpretation they put on many of the events that aredaily experienced by children everywhere.
Any adult who may read these jingles should be informedthat many of them were written when Winifredwas hardly more than a babe. And all of them weredashed off without effort to achieve poetic merit. Onecharacteristic that makes them of interest is their spontaneity.As an illustration of the readiness with whichWinifred can construct a jingle, I may say that whenshe was twelve years of age, I happened one day toread her the following essay on Bones written by a pupil:
"Bones is the framework of the body. If I had nobones in me, I should not have so much shape as I havenow. If I had no bones my brain, heart, lungs, andlarger blood vessels would be lying around in me, andmight get hurt. If my bones were burned I should bebrittle, because it would take the animal out of me. IfI was soaked in acid I should be limber. I'd rather besoaked than burned. Some of my bones don't growclose to my others snug like the branches to the trunkof a tree. The reason why they don't grow that way isbecause they have joints. Joints is good things to havein bones. All my bones put together ma