One morning,
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said,
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!," thought the little boy.
He liked to make pictures.
He could make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats----
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.
On another day,
When the little boy had opened
the door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said,
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!," thought the little boy.
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay;
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks.
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.
But the teacher said,"Wait!
And I will show you how."
And she showed eveyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There,"said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."
The little boy looked at the teacher's dish.
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.
And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch,
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.
Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
When she came to the little boy
She said, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the little boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, any way you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher,
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy,
And he began to make a red flower with
a green stem..............