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Slave Narratives

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

Last month I posted several songs that originate from the period immediately after the slaves were freed in the US. They came from a study of Slave Narratives that the US government did in the 1930’s, some of which are posted on Project Gutenberg. Recently Linda Austin wrote about what she read of the Slave Narratives on her blog Cherry Blossom Memories. Linda gives an interesting summary of some of the Narratives from Arkansas.

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, Online Books, USA | No Comments »

Gobolinks

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

A Gobolink is like an inkblot, but it’s made for fun, not for psychological analysis! To make a gobolink, you drop a little ink on a sheet of white paper. Fold the paper in half and press down the ink on the two halves of the paper. Then you open the paper and you have a unified image. (You’ll have a mirror image on each side of the folded paper.)

You can see an old book of these images online at the Library of Congress. It’s called Gobolinks, or Shadow-Pictures for Young and Old, by Ruth McEnery Stuart and Albert Bigelow Paine. (New York: The Century Co., 1896). The authors wrote poems and limericks to go along with their gobolinks.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the book…

The Tail of Taddy PoleThere was a little polliwog
His name was Taddy Pole.
He lived within a little bog
Beside a crawfish hole.

And all the day did Taddy play,
Around a sunken log.
Until he lost his tail one day,
And then he was a frog.

*****

The Faithful Notes

An old guitar once broke its strings,
And all the musical notes took wings;
They hurried away to lands afar
But two of them stayed with the old guitar.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Arts and Crafts, Books, Countries & Cultures, English, Gobolinks, Languages, Limericks, Online Books, Poems, Poetry, USA | No Comments »

Chenodia – Mother Goose in Dead Languages

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

Chenodia, The Classic Mother Goose (1871) by John Bigelow was just released online. It appears to be the traditional English nursery rhymes translated into Latin and Ancient Greek.

If anyone knows anything else about this text, please let us know in the comments below.

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Ancient Greek, Books, Countries & Cultures, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Languages, Latin, Mother Goose, Nursery Rhymes, Online Books | No Comments »

The Online Children’s Book, "Our Children" ("Les enfants") by Anatole France

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Project Gutenberg just released an online version of Anatole France’s book "Les enfants" in English. It’s called "Our Children", which is a collection of little stories for kids. It has some lovely illustrations.

I read a couple of stories from it to my daughter yesterday and she enjoyed them. The book is from around 1886. So I think it was interesting for her to see how they lived then. The first story, Fanny, is about a little girl visiting her grandmother. Her grandmother cooks by the hearth and the little girl carries a pocket knife to cut her food. It’s very quaint! Here are some of my favorite illustrations from the story.

Some of the stories have ideas that we might find a bit different in today’s day and age. There’s the story called The School. It starts out with an interesting idea, even if the way these children comport themselves in school would be stiff by today’s standards – at least in the US…

I declare I believe Miss Genseigne’s school is the best school for girls anywhere in the world. I maintain that those who believe and say the contrary are false and misleading. All Miss Genseigne’s scholars are well-behaved and diligent. There is nothing so pleasant as to see them, with their little stiff bodies and their heads so erect. You would say they were so many little bottles into which Miss Genseigne was pouring knowledge.

It’s the illustration that goes with this idea that’s so great…

The last story in the book is called The Little Sea Dogs. It’s about children whose relatives are sailors. They’re waiting for them to return from sea.

This story reminds us of how much harder life was in those times. It ends by discussing the fickleness of the weather. A storm can capsize a ship, leaving women widowed. Sad ending, but it’s important for children to know that we generally live in a safer, more comfortable world than ever before.

The book Nos enfants is online in French too. I found that one a bit difficult to navigate. Perhaps it might be easier to check out the text only version of Nos enfants in combination with the English version that has the illustrations.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Anatole France, Authors, Books, Childrens Stories, Countries & Cultures, England, English, France, French, Languages, Nos enfants, Online Books | 3 Comments »

Walter de la Mare Poem “SOME ONE”

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Nancy wrote to me looking for: “the complete poem by Walter de la Mare which starts with: ‘Someone came a-knocking on my wee small door….’”

Here is Walter de la Mare’s poem called SOME ONE:

SOME ONE

Some one came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Some one came knocking,
I’m sure – sure – sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But naught there was a-stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl’s call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.

You can find this poem online in PEACOCK PIE A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare.

Here’s another poem from the book you might like…

SILVER

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon:
This way, and that, she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog
From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

Hope you enjoy them!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Authors, Books, Canada, Countries & Cultures, England, English, Great Britain, Languages, Mama Lisa, Online Books, Poems, Poetry, Poets, SOME ONE, USA, Walter de la Mare | No Comments »

Poem: “If You Saw a Goat Buttoned in a Coat”

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

Here’s a fun little poem I just came across in a book from 1885 called Friends in Feathers and Fur, and Other Neighbors by James Johonnot.

If you saw a goat
Buttoned in a coat;
If you saw a rat
Dressed up in a hat;
If you saw a lamb
Take a slice of ham;
If you saw a bear
Combing out its hair;
If you saw an ox
Opening a box;
If you saw a pig
Eat a nice new fig;
If you saw a mouse
Throwing down a house;
If you saw a stag
Picking up a rag;
If you saw a cow
Make a pretty bow;
If you saw a fly
Take its slate and cry-
You would surely say,
"What peculiar play!"
Or would surely sing,
"What a funny thing!"