The Land of Story-Books

Robert Louis Stevenson · 1885

Catalog grade guidance: K–5 — Short children’s lyric; good for early memorization and reading aloud.

26 content lines · 168 words · Est. recitation about 1 min 40 sec (approx.)

Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg #136.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.

The Land of Story-Books

  At evening when the lamp is lit,
  Around the fire my parents sit;
  They sit at home and talk and sing,
  And do not play at anything.

  Now, with my little gun, I crawl
  All in the dark along the wall,
  And follow round the forest track
  Away behind the sofa back.

  There, in the night, where none can spy,
  All in my hunter's camp I lie,
  And play at books that I have read
  Till it is time to go to bed.

  These are the hills, these are the woods,
  These are my starry solitudes;
  And there the river by whose brink
  The roaring lions come to drink.

  I see the others far away
  As if in firelit camp they lay,
  And I, like to an Indian scout,
  Around their party prowled about.

  So when my nurse comes in for me,
  Home I return across the sea,
  And go to bed with backward looks
  At my dear land of Story-books.


                                           VIII