I have developed a new appreciation for nursery rhymes since having my own children. I’ve also noticed how strange some of them are when you actually take notice of the words. And some are just downright depressing, like this one:
The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He’ll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing.
Felt robin bookmark
I feel so sorry for the little robin in the poem…the rhyme stops right there with no promise of things getting any better!!
And then there’s Goosey Goosey Gander:
Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady’s chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn’t say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs.
Pretty brutal, I always thought! Is that really the best way to react to someone not wanting to pray??!!
Anyway, they do make me laugh at times, and lots of them are quite charming. Like the Owl and the Pussycat. I love reading this to my boys.
| I |
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!’
|
| II |
Pussy said to the Owl, ‘You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?’
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
|
| III |
‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
|
From the Edward Lear Homepage
I recently made an Owl and the Pussy Cat themed wall hanging gift for a gorgeous little 1 year old girl named Ivy. (You can see a previous post about her here).
The owl and the cat are both finger puppets that are easily removed from their little pea-green boat. (A little scroll with the nursery rhyme printed on it was also in the boat, but you can’t see it in the photos).
I had such fun making it and I am planning to make some more relating to other nursery rhymes for my boys rooms. Eventually, I’ll also add them to my shop too.
Hope you are having a great weekend, wherever you are.
Love Ruth x
