Favourite Poems for Kids

[Beatrice]

Thread inspired by K deciding she was a doctor, which started me off on my favourite poem about doctors.

Sneezles by A. A. Milne.

Christopher Robin
Had wheezles
And sneezles,
They bundled him
Into
His bed.
They gave him what goes
With a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold
In the head.
They wondered
If wheezles
Could turn
Into measles,
If sneezles
Would turn
Into mumps;
They examined his chest
For a rash,
And the rest
Of his body for swellings and lumps.
They sent for some doctors
In sneezles
And wheezles
To tell them what ought
To be done.
All sorts and conditions
Of famous physicians
Came hurrying round
At a run.
They all made a note
Of the state of his throat,
They asked if he suffered from thirst;
They asked if the sneezles
Came after the wheezles,
Or if the first sneezle
Came first.
They said, "If you teazle
A sneezle
Or wheezle,
A measle
May easily grow.
But humour or pleazle
The wheezle
Or sneezle,
The measle
Will certainly go."
They expounded the reazles
For sneezles
And wheezles,
The manner of measles
When new.
They said "If he freezles
In draughts and in breezles,
Then PHTHEEZLES
May even ensue."

Christopher Robin
Got up in the morning,
The sneezles had vanished away.
And the look in his eye
Seemed to say to the sky,
"Now, how to amuse them to-day?"

This is an absolutely glorious read-aloud. K likes it too :D What are your favourites, and your kids'?

[~*heket*~]

I just put a funny one about dinosaurs getting sick in Autumn JOY.

[Beatrice]

You tease :lol I need to resub :uhh

Another favourite here is short but sweet.

The Tickle Rhyme
Ian Serraillier

"Who's that tickling my back?" said the wall.
"Me," said a small
Caterpillar. "I'm learning
To crawl."

[Ceres]

This is one my mum reads to my DS..

Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover -
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

[Janet]

T.S.Eliot :) Andrew Lloyd Webber sends his thanks to your mum. :lol

I bought a story book that's sort of a poem, very free though. It's called "Tomorrow" and the kids love it although I had to explain to their father what it's about.

[Beatrice]

I love Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. I've read it to K already but I think we need to read it again :lol

[Yogini]

I have such fond memories of listening to an album I had with a very animated recital of The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear. Wish I could find it!


I On the top of the Crumpetty Tree
The Quangle Wangle sat,
But his face you could not see,
On account of his Beaver Hat.
For his hat was a hundred and two feet wide,
With ribbons and bibbons on every side
And bells, and buttons, and loops, and lace,
So that nobody ever could see the face
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.

II The Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree,--
'Jam; and jelly; and bread;
'Are the best food for me!
'But the longer I live on this Crumpetty Tree
'The plainer that ever it seems to me
'That very few people come this way
'And that life on the whole is far from gay!'
Said the Quangle Wangle Quee.

III But there came to the Crumpetty Tree,
Mr. and Mrs. Canary;
And they said, -- 'Did you ever see
'Any spot so charmingly airy?
'May we build a nest on your lovely Hat?
Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
'O please let us come and build a nest
'Of whatever material suits you best,
'Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!'

IV And besides, to the Crumetty Tree
Came the Stork, the Duck, and the Owl;
The Snail, and the Bumble-Bee,
The Frog, and theFimble Fowl;
(The Fimble Fowl, with a Corkscrew leg;)
And all of them said, -- We humblyy beg,
'We may build our homes on your lovely Hat,--
'Mr. Quangle Wangle, grant us that!
'Mr. Quangle Wangle Quee!'

V And the Golden Grouse came there,
And the Pobble who has no toes,--
And the small Olympian bear,--
And the Dong with a luminous nose.
And the Blue Babboon, who played the flute,--
And the Orient Calf from the Land of Tute,--
And the Attery Squash, and the Bisky Bat,--
All came and built on the lovely Hat
Of the Quangle Wangle Quee.

VI And the Quangle Wangle said
To himself on the Crumpetty Tree,--
'When all these creatures move
'What a wonderful noise there'll be!'
And at night by the light of the Mulberry moon
They danced to the flute of the Blue Babboon,
On the broad green leaves of the Crumpetty Tree,
And all were as happy as happy could be,
With the Quangle Wangle Quee.

[Beatrice]

Ooooh, yes! Lurve Edward Lear :eager And Lewis Carroll's verse is pretty funny too.

[Yogini]

The album (showing my age !) I had as a kid with it on was coupled with Alice in Wonderland ..i've got to do some searching on Amazon or something when i get some time.
I had not thought of the poem until they read it on Play School and it just came flooding back to me. These things can bring back such strong feelings from childhood hey.