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FREE STORY
How Raggedy Andy Came
One day Daddy took Raggedy Ann down to his office and propped her up against some books upon his desk; he wanted to have her where he could see her cheery smile all day, for, as you must surely know, smiles and happiness are truly catching.
Daddy wished to catch a whole lot of Raggedy Ann’s cheeriness and happiness and put all this down on paper, so that those who did not have Raggedy Ann dolls might see just how happy and smiling a rag doll can be.
So Raggedy Ann stayed at Daddy’s studio for three or four days.
She was missed very, very much at home and Marcella really longed for her, but knew that Daddy was borrowing some of Raggedy Ann’s sunshine, so she did not complain.
Raggedy Ann did not complain either, for in addition to the sunny, happy smile she always wore (it was painted on), Raggedy Ann had a candy heart, and of course no one (not even a rag doll) ever complains if they have such happiness about them.
One evening, just as Daddy was finishing his day’s work, a messenger boy came with a package; a nice, soft lumpy package.
Daddy opened the nice, soft lumpy package and found a letter.
Gran’ma had told Daddy, long before this, that at the time Raggedy Ann was made, a neighbor lady had made a boy doll, Raggedy Andy, for her little girl, who always played with Gran’ma.
And when Gran’ma told Daddy this she wondered whatever had become of her little playmate and the boy doll, Raggedy Andy.
After reading the letter, Daddy opened the other package which had been inside the nice, soft, lumpy package and found—Raggedy Andy.
Raggedy Andy had been carefully folded up.
His soft, loppy arms were folded up in front of him and his soft, loppy legs were folded over his soft, loppy arms, and they were held this way by a rubber band.
Raggedy Andy must have wondered why he was being “done up” this way, but it could not have caused him any worry, for in between where his feet came over his face Daddy saw his cheery smile.
After slipping off the rubber band, Daddy smoothed out the wrinkles in Raggedy Andy’s arms and legs.
Then Daddy propped Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy up against books on his desk, so that they sat facing each other; Raggedy Ann’s shoe button eyes looking straight into the shoe button eyes of Raggedy Andy.
They could not speak—not right out before a real person—so they just sat there and smiled at each other.
Daddy could not help reaching out his hands and feeling their throats.
Yes! There was a lump in Raggedy Ann’s throat, and there was a lump in Raggedy Andy’s throat. A cotton lump, to be sure, but a lump nevertheless.
“So, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, that is why you cannot talk, is it?” said Daddy.
“I will go away and let you have your visit to yourselves, although it is good to sit and share your happiness by watching you.”
Daddy then took the rubber band and placed it around Raggedy Ann’s right hand, and around Raggedy Andy’s right hand, so that when he had it fixed properly they sat and held each other’s hands.
Daddy knew they would wish to tell each other all the wonderful things that had happened to them since they had parted more than fifty years before.
So, locking his studio door, Daddy left the two old rag dolls looking into each other’s eyes.
The next morning, when Daddy unlocked his door and looked at his desk, he saw that Raggedy Andy had fallen over so that he lay with his head in the bend of Raggedy Ann’s arm.
From: RAGGEDY ANDY STORIES
ISBN: 9788828375036
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KEYWORDS/TAGS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, childrens stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy kingdom, ethereal, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, happy place, happiness, laughter, Raggedy Andy, Raggedy Ann, dolls, toys, Father Christmas, Nursery Dance, Spinning Wheel, Taffy Pull, toffee, Rabbit Chase, New, Tin Gutter, Doctor Raggedy Andy, Smile, Wooden Horse, Making Angels, Snow, Singing Shell
RAGGEDY ANDY STORIES – 11 illustrated stories of Raggedy Andy’s adventures
Written and Illustrated by Johnny Gruelle
This book is for all little boys and girls who love dolls and the stories of Raggedy Andy and Raggedy Ann.
Herein you will find 11 stories of Raggedy Andy, written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle. It starts with how Raggedy Andy came to the nursery, which leads into a taffy (toffee) pull, which was sticky to say the least, and even has a rabbit chase. Then there is the story of how Raggedy Andy lost his smile and how he got it back again and more stories besides.
The 11 stories are further brought to life with the 95 exquisite illustrations also by Johnny Gruelle.
The stories in this volume are:
How Raggedy Andy Came
The Nursery Dance
The Spinning Wheel
The Taffy Pull
The Rabbit Chase
The New Tin Gutter
Doctor Raggedy Andy
Raggedy Andy’s Smile
The Wooden Horse
Making “Angels” In The Snow
The Singing Shell
This volume is sure to keep you and your young ones enchanted for hours, if not because of the quantity of the content, then their quality. They will have you coming back for more time and again.
ISBN: 9788828375036
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KEYWORDS/TAGS: fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, children’s stories, childrens stories, bygone era, fairydom, fairy kingdom, ethereal, fairy land, classic stories, children’s bedtime stories, happy place, happiness, laughter, Raggedy Andy, Raggedy Ann, dolls, toys, Father Christmas, Nursery Dance, Spinning Wheel, Taffy Pull, toffee, Rabbit Chase, New, Tin Gutter, Doctor Raggedy Andy, Smile, Wooden Horse, Making Angels, Snow, Singing Shell
Massasoit had several children. The eldest son was named Wamsutta, and the second Metacomet. In later years, the English gave them the names of Alexander and Philip, which are much easier names for us to pronounce.
We do not know the exact date of Philip’s birth, for the Indians kept no account of time as we do, nor did they trouble to ask anyone his age. It is probable, however, that Philip was born before 1620, the year in which the Pilgrims settled near the Wampanoags.
Philip spent his boyhood days playing with his brothers and sisters, and with the neighbors’ children; for although he was the son of a grand sachem, he had no special privileges above those of the other children around him.
We are apt to think of a prince as a man that does very little work. We expect him to attend banquets, to be dressed in military uniform, with a beautiful sword at his side and many medals on his breast, to be surrounded by servants, and to have everybody bow down to him and stand ready to do his bidding.
It was very different with Philip. He lived in no better way than did the other members of his tribe. His home was neither better nor worse than theirs. His food was of the same quality. His daily life was the same. He wore no uniform. He never heard of medals or badges. He had no servants. His father differed from the other Indians only in being their leader in time of war and in being looked up to whenever the chiefs of the tribe held a meeting, or council.
Philip’s home was not such as American boys and girls are brought up in. There were no toys, no baby carriages, no candy. There were no romps with the parents, for the Indians were a quiet, sober people, and rarely showed any affection for their children.
Philip’s father never played any games with him. In fact, in his younger days the boy never received very much attention from his father. He was taken care of by his mother. He was never rocked in a cradle, but was strapped in a kind of bag made of broad pieces of bark and covered with soft fur. Sometimes he was carried in this on his mother’s back, as she went about her work. Sometimes he was hung up on the branch of a tree.
The little house in which he lived was called a wigwam. It was circular, or oval, in shape, and made of barks or mats laid over a framework of small poles. These poles were fixed at one end in the ground, and were fastened together at the top, forming a framework shaped somewhat like a tent.
Two low openings on opposite sides of the wigwam served as doors. These were closed with mats when necessary, thus making the place tight and warm.
The wigwam had but one room. In the middle of it were a few stones which served as a fireplace. There was no chimney, but the smoke passed out through an opening at the top of the wigwam.
On one side of the fireplace was a large couch made of rough boards raised perhaps a foot above the ground and covered with mats or skins. The couch was very wide, so that Philip and the rest of the children could lie on it side by side at night.
On one side of the fireplace was a large couch made of rough boards raised perhaps a foot above the ground and covered with mats or skins. The couch was very wide, so that Philip and the rest of the children could lie on it side by side at night.
There was no other furniture in the room. A few baskets were hung on the walls ready for use. A few mats were placed here and there as ornaments. The dishes that held Philip’s food were rude vessels made of baked clay, of pieces of bark, of bits of hollowed stone, or of wood.
There was very little desire to keep the wigwam neat and tidy. It was used for only a few months, and then given up for a new one that was built nearby. In the summer it was customary to pitch the wigwam in an open place. In the winter it was pitched in the thick woods for protection from the winds and storms.
Such was the home in which Philip was brought up. It differed but little from those of his playmates, for there was no aristocracy among the Indians. The place where Massasoit and his family generally lived was near the present site of Bristol, on a narrow neck of land projecting into Narragansett Bay. It is now called Mount Hope, and is twelve or fifteen miles southeast of Providence, Rhode Island.
Mount Hope
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From a soon to be published book -Legends and Stories from Martha’s Vineyard.
Folklore and Fairytales - Free Stories for Children 