I’m not sure, but it seems to me that many children today cannot recite nursery rhymes. This is certainly true at the elementary school where I work, but since more than half of our students are Asian, their parents may not be familiar with the whole Mother Goose thing. Maybe the rhymes are thought to be too old-fashioned and children aren’t interested anymore, although I still think a young child would love them. Anyway, I hope I am wrong about this, because I think they are wonderful.
Here are a few from this group that were new to me.
The Five Toes
“Let us go to the woods,” says this pig:
“What to do there?” says that pig;
“To look for mother,” says this pig;
“What to do with her?” says that pig;
“To kiss her, to kiss her, says this pig.
A Dog and A Cat
A dog and a cat went out together,
To see some friends just out of the town;
Said the cat to the dog,
“What d’ye think of the weather?”
“I think, ma’am, the rain will come down —
But don’t be alarmed, for I’ve an umbrella
That will shelter us both,” said this amiable fellow.
An Apple Pie
An apple pie, when it looks nice,
Would make one long to have a slice;
And if the taste should prove so, too,
I fear one slice would hardly do.
So to prevent my asking twice,
Pray, mamma, cut a good large slice.
Those rhymes are new to me, but I love the one for the toes! The pie one is my second favorite. It reaaly paints a picture! I love the illustrations, too. The man pushing the lady in the wheel barrow is very intriguing!
Those are new to me too! I made sure my boys had a healthy helping of nursery rhymes – I believe we made it through every single children’s book in the library, we went [and still go] every week. Actually, there are THREE libraries in our town, and we’ve been through them all. Nursery rhymes built a love of reading into my boys!
Thanks so much for the Lois Lenski pics, I adore her style!
I read lots of nursery rhymes with my 3 year old. I’m pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to recite them completely on his own…but if you start the line he can finish it. I seem to recall that there is something important in the rhythm of the rhyme for reading skills.
At any rate, they are good fun to read together…we also spend a lot of time making up our own rhymes too!
Oh Martha,
Wouldn’t I love to stitch a few of these blocks for a child’s quilt.
Unfortunately my granddaughters are just a little too old for them, guess I’ll just have to stitch them for the child in ME. lol (I’ll add that to my “list”). The Queen of Hearts would make a really cute valentine.
Thank You for sharing!
Wanetha
Martha, these are wonderful! Thank you for sharing these little gems 🙂