"Check Out" Your Library

Help children discover the joy of reading during National Children's Book Week.

Reading online is good, too. Your favorite youngster is sure to enjoy this Mother Goose nursery rhyme.

The Queen of Hearts
.
.The Queen of Hearts,
.She made some tarts,
.All on a summer's day;
.The Knave of Hearts,
.He stole the tarts,
.And took them clean away.
.
.The King of Hearts
.Called for the tarts,
.And beat the Knave full sore;
.The Knave of Hearts
.Brought back the tarts,
.And vowed he'd steal no more.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum's copy of this favorite children's book dates to 1895 and was created by illustrator Blanche McManus Mansfield.

Pictured: Blanche McManus Mansfield, 1870–after 1930, The True Mother Goose, 1895, color process lithograph, 44 1/8 x 43 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase.