Cantaloupe for breakfast.
Honey on a bun.
Get your shoes and stockings on
and run, run, run!
You're slow as half a dozen snails;
the rest have all begun.
So get your shoes and stockings on
and run, run, run!
I wish I knew who wrote this poem. If you do, please drop me a note. In fact, I've never met anyone else whose heard this poem -- other than my second-grade classmates. Our teacher, Miss Glenelle McBeath taught it to us and it's been a favorite ever since. As it turns out, I now promote fruits and vegetables a good part of my work day. Would Miss McBeath find that amusing? BTW, she was a superior teacher! In fact, she was a winner of the "Teacher of the Year " award for the state of Colorado. Miss McBeath came to teaching late in life; she started out as a postal worker. I wish I knew more about her. She was a wonderful person.
Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day. If you enjoy poetry, I have two of my own poems on my blog. Both have illustrations to go with them:
12 comments:
I like the cantaloupe for breakfast poem, and I remember you reciting it in Chicago.
Love, Randi
What a nice idea Poem in Your Pocket is. Thanks for telling me about it.
Sherry
My dad used to recite this little verse everytime we had cantaloupe. He never mentioned how he knew it. I was just searching the Internet to see if could find out anything about it. My family lived in the coal fields of southern WV.
Dear Anonymous: I grew up in Pueblo, Colorado. It's interesting to know that this poem traveled between WV and CO. Maybe some day, we can find out where it began its journey! This is exciting for me to hear of anyone else who knows that poem. Thanks for leaving your note!
I am coming up 74. My mother, now long deceased, was born in London, Ontario, Canada, about 100 years ago. Her version from her childhood was "Put your shoes and stockings on ..." This is a nursery rhyme, n'est-ce pas?
Anonymous,
Thanks for leaving a note. Yes, this is a nursery rhyme.
I was born and raised in Kittery, ME in the early 60's, I just turned 64 in February. I remember the nursery rhyme clearly, but I'm not sure where I learned it. And, to this day, whenever someone mentions the word 'cantaloupe', I mentally sing the nursery rhyme.
Mike C.
Hi Mike,
I grew up halfway across the country, so it's interesting to me that this poem was also known in Maine...around the same time.
Minka
Rimskittles book has the poem in it. Books publish date is 1926.
My Dad used to use this rhyme to wake us up. It was from a book by Leroy Jackson of nursery rhymes entitled "Rimskettle's Book" published in the mid-1920's. It was one of his childhood favorites. Other favorites from that book were "Birdy with a yellow bill" and "The little yellow monkey in the banyan tree"
I will be 75 my next birthday and grew up outside of Buffalo, NY. My mother always woke us up with this poem. It holds dear memories for me and my siblings.
It's nice to know so many knew this poem in their childhood! Thank you all for sharing your stories!
Post a Comment