Nursery Rhymes

I stumbled upon this poem while playing on Pinterest this evening.  It was (and still kind of is) my all time favorite "nursery rhyme" when I was a kid.  I remember my grandparents had these big hard covered books - they looked like encyclopedias but they were filled with nursery rhymes and children's stories.  Classics that seem to have disappeared in today's world.  Things like:

I never saw a purple cow.
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you anyhow
I'd rather see than be one.

and

Fishy, fishy, in a brook
Daddy caught him with a hook
Mommy fried him in a pan
And baby ate him like a man.

I used to spend hours reading that book.  But this one -- this one was my very very favorite:

Oh, there once was a Puffin
Just the shape of a muffin,
And he lived on an island
In the bright blue sea!

He ate little fishes,
That were most delicious,
And he had them for supper
And he had them for tea.

But this poor little Puffin,
He couldn’t play nothin’,
For he hadn’t anybody
To play with at all.

So he sat on his island,
And he cried for awhile, and
He felt very lonely,
And he felt very small.

Then along came the fishes,
And they said, “If you wishes,
You can have us for playmates,
Instead of for tea!”

So they now play together,
In all sorts of weather,
And the Puffin eats pancakes,
Like you and like me.

by Florence Page Jaques

My new mission (as of right this moment) is to find a book with these stories in it, and then sharing these long forgotten rhymes with our children. Just another thing we have to look forward to!

Pancakes!