=Questions about the artist.= Who painted this picture? Where was the artist born? Where did she study and whom did she marry? Where do you think she must have been sitting when she painted the picture? Name two of her best-known pictures.
=Artist:= G. A. Holmes (h[=o]mz). =Birthplace:= England. =Dates:= Unknown.
=Questions to arouse interest.= What do you see in this picture? Where are they? Why is the stone floor not too cold for the baby? What time of day do you think it is? why? What do you suppose the baby has been doing? What makes you think the big dog loves the baby? What is the little kitten doing? What do you see on the stone bench? Do you like the picture? why?
=The story of the picture.= It must have been a warm summer day when this little baby slipped out of her bed, crept across the room to the door, and out on the cool stone porch.
It may have been a Monday morning, when the baby's mamma was very busy in the kitchen, washing the clothes. Probably she put the baby to bed for the usual morning nap, and did not hear her wake up.
It must be about noon, for the shadows are short in the picture. The mother is probably out in the yard, taking her clean clothes off the line, so of course she could not hear the baby creep out through the open door to the porch. There the baby found the great dog keeping watch. How wise he looks! He knows the baby's mamma would be worried if she knew what her little one is doing, and his kind eyes seem to say, "Never mind, I'll take care of her."
Perhaps the baby asks him, "Where's my mamma?" He looks as if he wanted to answer or say something, and she cannot understand why he does not, so she crawls up to him and says, "Can't you talk?" But the big dog can only wag his tail and watch the baby. If she should crawl too far away, we feel sure he would try to persuade her to come back, or if he could not do that, he would bark and let the mother know something was wrong.
What chubby little hands and feet the baby has! You can almost see the dimples in her cheeks. She is a friendly, happy little child, I'm sure, and you can see that her pets love her. There is the little kitten rubbing up against the door as if waiting to see if the dog will answer baby's question. Kitty seems to be afraid to come out on the porch, although the dog does not look as if he would hurt her. Sometimes little babies with such chubby hands squeeze their pets too hard, and maybe this little kitten, although she loves the baby, does not want to come too near.