PREFATORY NOTE

 In “Windmills and Wooden Shoes” we have a continuous story of the doings of the Dutch children, Jan and Katrina and their little friends.

Teach the children to read this book so that the personalities¹ of the children depicted² therein will become vividly³ lifelike to the little readers. Encourage them to bring to class pictures of Dutch life and of Holland scenery.

Make the children in the book live for the children in the class. Let them close their eyes and see in imagination the big windmill, the canals with the drooping⁴ willow⁵ trees, the slow-moving barge⁶, and the shadows in the water. Picture the busy market place, and the Dutch children at work and at play. Teach the children the words and music of the little song found on page 6. Both the words and music have been arranged to give the rhythmic⁷ sound of the wooden shoes as the little Dutch wearers “klip klop” about in their work and play.

The lessons in the book may be illustrated⁸ by the children with drawings and paper cuttings,—the Dutch house, the windmill, the Dutch children, the flowers in the garden, the stork⁹, the geese, the dog and the milk-cart, the boats, the wooden shoes, and many other things that will suggest themselves from the text to the ingenious teacher.

MAUDE M. GRANT,

Monroe, Michigan.

1 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

2 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

3 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

4 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

5 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

6 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

7 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

8 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

9 stork   

n.鹳

参考例句：

• A Fox invited a long-beaked Stork to have dinner with him.狐狸请长嘴鹳同他一起吃饭。
• He is very glad that his wife's going to get a visit from the stork.他为她的妻子将获得参观鹳鸟的机会感到非常高兴。