William Holbrook Beard delighted in making satirical paintings of animals as human. This humorous scene presents a group of naughty school children. A slovenly pig chatting with a hare, a shy bear standing next to a sly fox, a bickering cat and dog, and a squirrel stand in line for discipline by their schoolmaster ape, who holds a switch behind his back.

By the end of the nineteenth century, compulsory school attendance laws increased educational opportunities for more American children than ever before.