One day, there was a great talk going on in the Kindergarten. The Sphere, Cube, and Cylinder agreed that they could go to sleep after the day’s work was over. At that very minute, to their surprise, “rap-a-tap” was heard on the door, and the whole Spool Family entered. They came rumbling and tumbling in, and in their hurry almost rolled over one another.
The Sphere said, “Cylinder, you will have to make them welcome.”
The Cube said, “Cylinder, I think they are your cousins!”
The Cylinder said politely, “How do you do?”
The Spool Family said in their wooden voices:
“The old Work Basket is our home,
But we started out to roam.”
The Spool Family had comical faces, but the Big Spool that held the black thread was the only one who wore a necktie. He spoke up next, saying:
“I hold shoe buttons on, ’tis said,
I’m just a Spool of linen thread.”
Then the little spool holding pink silk piped up:
“Though not as useful, quite you see,
I am just as dainty as can be.”
Then, to the surprise of all, the Spools holding fine white and black thread bowed to each other and danced the minuet. When the dance was over, the Spool Family said:
“We go by number, not by name,
But we have feelings just the same.”
Then they all began to shout their numbers. “40, 50, 60.” Would they never stop? Just as suddenly as they came, they rolled out the door, calling:
“Even Spools have work to do,
So we call, ‘Goodbye,’ to you.”
“Oh” and “ah,” cried the Sphere, Cube, and Cylinder, will they ever call again?
Next morning, a wonderful thing happened in the Kindergarten.
An empty Spool stood on the table in front of each little red chair.
Each Spool had a face drawn upon it.
Someone said:
“Who likes to go to school?”
“We do,” answered each wooden Spool.
The children in that Kindergarten had such a good time after they met the Spool Family; they brought Spools of different sizes and shapes to school. They kept them in a box and called them their “Spool Family.”
They drew faces on their Spools and named and numbered them.
They pasted a strip of pasteboard across two Spools and made a table for the Spool Family.
They told new stories about the Spool Family every day.
