Willie the Whistling Giraffe and Other Works

By Margaret Wise Brown

This is a collection of works by Margaret Wise Brown that was originally published in 1999. Containing poems, stories, songs, and notes by the best-selling author of many well-known children's books, Willie the Whistling Giraffe provides insight into the way Margaret wrote and thought about writing. At the time her death, Margaret had begun work

• Language: English
• Publisher: WaterMark, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9781882077366

Margaret Wise Brown

Margaret Wise Brown, cherished for her unique ability to convey a child’s experience and perspective of the world, transformed the landscape of children’s literature with such beloved classics as Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Other perennial favorites by Ms. Brown include My World; Christmas in the Barn; The Dead Bird; North, South, East, West; and Good Day, Good Night.

Book preview

GiraffeIllustrationCover.psdGiraffeIllustrationCover.psd

Willie the Whistling Giraffe and Other Works

By Margaret Wise Brown

This is an abridged version of a book that was originally published in paperback in 1999. 

All works in this collection are Copyrighted by Hollins University. In addition to being included in Willie the Whistling Giraffe Copyright © 1999, these works may have been published by WaterMark, Inc. in the following prior works:  Unpublished Works by Margaret Wise Brown, Copyright © 1992; Margaret Wise Brown’s Unpublished Works, Copyright © 1993; White Freesias, Copyright © 1999.

All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

ISBN 978-1-882077-36-6 (ebook)

Book and cover design by Pilar Taylor

Cover illustration by Marilyn Faucher

For permissions or additional information please contact: Permissions, WaterMark, Inc. P. O. Box 361243, Hoover, AL 35236 or email us at [e-mail]

ABSTRACTION IN COLOR

Shout red

Sing blue

Laugh green

Smile yellow

Whoa - black

Another Story

Once there was a little boy

and his mother

and father weren’t there

and so little boy belonged to HIMSELF.

He was the little boy’s little boy

He could do anything he wanted to do all day long because he let himself do it.

He got up one summer morning when the sun was shining and he didn’t put on any clothes. He ran barefoot through the cool wet grass and he walked barefoot through the hot yellow sand and he walked barefoot into the big wet ocean.

The sun shone on him and kept him warm and the wind blew him and kept his cool.

And at night he looked at the stars all night.

And he saw the moon come up and the moon go down.

And the sun came up and he heard the first birds and he slept in the morning sun.

And in the afternoon he caught a horse. And he went home with the horse and some sheep. And the little boy slept in the hay and he liked the smell of it.

The End for the Moment.

AT HOME

When the sun went down everyone ran home. Home to a nest and home to a hole, home in the air and home in the sea, In a house or a log or a leaf or a tree

Wherever might a home be?

The bug had a home in a hole in a log

And Bzzzzzzz he crawled there

The fish had a home by a big west stone

And Swish she darted there

The Rabbit had a home in a hollow tree

And Lippity Clip

He ran there

The pig had a home in a pig pen

She was there already

Daddy Long Legs lived in the grass

They hide somewhere out of sight

and they are at home

A Snail lives in her own shell

And when she pulls her head in,

she is at home

The Bird had a home in a nest of twigs

Hidden from eyes that see

Behind a branch, behind a leaf,

Near the top of the maple tree

The LIon had a home in a big dark cave

Alone in a home of stone

And he went there

The Dog had a home in a Dog House

Out behind the barn

Where he slept with four little brothers

And they all kept each other warm

And he went there

The child was at home in a house

Then night came on without a sound

A big dark shadow all around

Lights turn on and fireflies

Flick their bright electric eyes

THE BAD LITTLE BUNNY

Once there was a bad little bunny. He was bad in every way. He liked to be very dirty. He thumped when other bunnies were listening. He kicked his friends.And threw his carrots up in the air, and rolled and rolled around in the dirt.

And the sun and the wind and the moon and the stars said,

He’s too dirty.

"He’s dirty as a Pig’s foot

Dirty as Mud Pies,

Dirty as a Dump,

Dirty as Grubby Hands,

Dirty as a Dirty Face,

Dirty as a Chimney Sweep,

Dirty as Dirt!

So when he went to kick a little hedgehog the sun shone on his foot and the sun felt so good and warm on his fur toes that he just left his foot halfway up in the air for a while to feel the sun.

And when he threw his carrots up in the air, the wind blew them away!

And when he thumped when other rabbits were listening, the moon shined so brightly

That the bad little bunny stopped thumping to look at the bright, bright moon

and he was quiet as the stars and moon shone down on him

and he fell sound asleep on the grass as he listened to the sounds of the night.

When the sun came up the next morning, the morning dew had turned the very dirty, bad little bunny into a very clean little bunny!

He was

Clean as a daisy

Clean as a snowflake

Clean as a pear blossom

Clean as a fresh sheet

Clean as ice

Clean as crystal

Clean as a whistle!

And he liked being clean! And he stopped thumping when other rabbits were listening,

And he didn’t kick his friends, Or throw his carrots in the air. He just stopped and hopped around in the sunshine.

And the sun and the wind and the moon and the stars said,

What a Good Little Bunny!

THE BIRTHDAY BOOK

Or Believe it or Not

Or And One to Grown On

Once there was a little boy named Louis Ripley. And here he is. He was two years old.

But the very next day when he woke up in the morning he was going to be three because the next morning would be September 15th and that day was his. It was his birthday and they were going to give him a party with other children who would come to eat his cake. Now Louis didn’t want a party. He was too little to enjoy playing with strange children all of a sudden and all at once. They made him feel shy. So he said, I don’t want children at my party.

Well, you can’t have a party all by yourself, said his mother. You have to invite some others before it is a party. Who do you want to come to your party? His mother was very busy washing the dishes and she didn’t quite her what Louis said. But she said anyway, All right, if that is what you want, you go and invite them.

And off went Louis to the barn where everything he liked most was.

The first thing he wanted to come to his birthday party (for he didn’t want children at his birthday party) was the tractor.

His very own dear John Deer Tractor

Then he invited the manure spreader.

And the silo.

And the ground buster.

And the truck.

And a woodpecker.

And for his birthday he asked them to give him some mice for his cat Sandy.

Then his father came home that night and said, Well, how is the party coming along? Are all the guests invited? They certainly are," said his mother. And she told him who and what Louis wanted to come.

Well why not, said his father. It’s his birthday."

And that very next day

Was Lulu’s Birthday.

THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Everyone has a birthday.

The stars come up over the tree tops at the

same place at the very same time only once a year.

And when the same star come up in the same place that

it came up the moment you were born it is your

birthday.

And there was a funny thing about Rip and Sally.

They were born in the same house.

So they had the same birthday.

BIRTHDAYS IN THE WOODS

One spring deep in the woods, the animals all got born.

A worm

A bee

A wild pig

And, of course,

A Little Rabbit.

The next spring they all had a birthday because they had been born for a year and each got a birthday present. A present, of course, is something you want.

The little worm was one year old.

Here comes a little worm

Squirming, squirming, squirm

Happy birthday, little worm

You’ll get your present soon

BOOM!

A worm is having a birthday. Happy birthday, Worm, said his mother.

Squish, said the little worm. He squished his thanks.

Here comes a little bee

A buzzing busy bee

Happy Birthday, little bee

You’ll get a present soon

BOOM!

A bee was having a birthday. All the bees were flying around him with presents – 20 to 29

presents, usually pollen. But his mother had the biggest present. She was flying with it from a long ways off.

Happy Birthday!

The little bee reached forth his five feet to take it (he stood on his sixth foot).

It was a SNAPDRAGON

The little bee buried his face in it and buzzed his thanks.

Here comes a little squirrel

his tall a-twitch and a-whirl

Happy Birthday, little squirrel

You’ll get your present soon

BOOM!

A squirrel was having a birthday

What would a squirrel like for his Birthday? (Picture of a nut)

And that is just what he got, three of them.

Crack a nut, said his mother

Crack a nut, said his father

Crack a nut, said his sister

Nuts so much and nuts so often, chatted the little squirrel

He chattered his thanks.

Here comes a little wild pig

Jiggetty, Jigetty, Jig

Happy Birthday, little pig

You’ll get a present soon

BOOM!

A pig was having a birthday - a little wild pig.

Happy Birthday, dear pig, said the Mother Pig Here is a birthday present

(Oink Oink Oink)

What could it be? A birthday present for a pig, of course, is something a pig would like.

What do you think it was?

The little pig grunted

Wump Wump Wheeeeee!

They brought him a swamp of sun-warmed dirt to get dirty in!

The little wild pig squealed his delight, and his thanks.

Here comes a little rabbit

If he sees a carrot he’ll grab it

Happy Birthday, little rabbit

You’ll get a present soon

BOOM!

A little rabbit was having a birthday with a hop, skip and a jump he arose in

Thanks for the mud and the dirt