"I'm thinking in bed,
'Cause I can't get out
Till I learn how to think
What I'm thinking about;
What I'm thinking about
Is a person to be -
A sort of a person
Who feels like me.
I might still be Alice,
Excepting I'm not.
And Snoopy is super,
But not when it's hot;
I couldn't be Piglet,
I don't think I'm Pooh,
I know I'm not Daddy
And I can't be you."
The arrival of this wonderful collection in the mail yesterday had me sitting down to pore over its many pages. Dennis Lee, I have missed you. Reading poems from three books that were perennial favorites when our kids were small, and when I was teaching in kindergarten and early years classrooms, had me rememembering how much we enjoyed sharing them every day.
This welcome collection includes Alligator Pie, illustrated by Frank Newfeld and published in 1974, Jelly Belly, illustrated by Juan Wijngaard and published in 1983, and finally The Ice Cream Store, illustrated by David McPhail and published in 1991. I have always loved sharing poetry with children and have many fond memories of these poems that entertained and fascinated my kids and students day after day. Many were memorized with little work because Dennis Lee's writing is filled with wonderful images, accessible language and excellent wordplay. We had many favorites at home and at school.
"As I went up
To Halifax,
I met a man
with nine black cats.
ONE was tubby,
TWO was thin,
THREE had a pimple
On his chin-chin-chin:
FOUR ate pizza,
FIVE ate lox,
SIX ate the wool
SIX ate the wool
From her long black socks;
SEVEN had a dory,
EIGHT had a car,
And NINE sang a song
On a steel guitar.
So tell me true
When you hear these facts -
How many were going
To Halifax?"
Love it! And, the many other wonderful poems that came back to me as I read to my heart's content last evening. What a gift this is!
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