05/04/2008 04:42 PM

“My Mother” a Victorian Poem

In many countries around the world, Mother’s Day is in May. Below is a quaint poem I found called “My Mother”. It was written by Ann Taylor (1783 –1866). She’s the sister of Jane Taylor, the author of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Ann and Jane published books of rhymes and poems together. The illustrations [...]

04/08/2008 11:39 AM

Can Anyone Help with a Song about an Acorn, most likely from Britain, with the line, “A little Brown Baby Round and Wee”?

Brenda wrote to me from Australia… Dear Mama Lisa, I am trying to find the words of a song our mother sang to us, and then to my children and I would like to sing to my grandsons about “A little Brown Baby Round and Wee”. It is a song about an acorn who fell [...]

03/09/2008 01:28 PM

How to Marble Easter Eggs

Here are directions to create a marble effect on eggs. It’s an easy way to give your eggs more pizzazz this Easter. 1) Hard boil white eggs. 2) Prepare egg dyes. You can use store bought dyes (*see note below) or follow my instructions to prepare natural dyes. 3) You can dye some eggs different solid [...]

02/04/2008 05:35 PM

Can Someone Help with Information about Australian Wedding Customs?

Andrea wrote requesting information about Australian wedding traditions: Hello, I enjoyed your site. If my future husband and I have children someday we will teach them some Australian songs. I am marrying a wonderful Australian man, and I want to incorporate some elements of Australian culture into our wedding. I may have some Australian [...]

01/27/2008 08:52 PM

Accumulative Rhyme - Tree on the Hill

Tree on the Hill is an old nursery rhyme of the type that’s called an Accumulative or Cumulative Rhyme. In cumulative rhymes a phrase is introduced in one verse and then repeated in subsequent verses, along with the newer phrases introduced in those verses. Each verse grows longer and longer. By the [...]

01/20/2008 08:49 PM

Searching for a Nursery Rhyme that Begins with Z!

We’ve been very busy here, redesigning Mama Lisa’s House of Nursery Rhymes, which features traditional English Mother Goose. The new design will break down the rhymes alphabetically. Each letter of the alphabet will have its own page – and that page will have all of the rhymes we have that begin with that [...]

01/12/2008 05:30 PM

A Poem - The Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast

The Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast was first published in 1807. It was written by William Roscoe, a member of the British parliament who fought against the slave trade. Roscoe wrote the poem for his children. The Character “Robert” in the poem was one of his youngest sons and this poem [...]

01/11/2008 05:31 PM

Does Anyone Know a Song about Putting Something in a Box in Your Pocket?

Janice wrote: Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find the children’s song I am looking for. I don’t know the name of it just some of the lyrics… Putting something in a box and putting it in your pocket to keep it safe. If you could help me I would greatly appreciate [...]

01/06/2008 06:44 PM

Lyrics - in Search of Tunes

Becky Lovgren wrote to me looking for the tunes to several songs and rhymes from her childhood. She sent me so many songs and rhymes with such great lyrics that I thought you might like to read them here. I inserted some info about some of the songs in the middle of Becky’s [...]

12/23/2007 12:47 PM

Does Anyone Know of Hand Gestures That Go with the 12 Days of Christmas?

Rich Berrett wrote: Growing up I recall hearing the 12 days of Christmas accompanied by hand gestures for each day… when I googled that issue it referred me to your site with this notation.. “The Twelve Days of Christmas actually start on Christmas and go up to the …. As with many children’s songs, there [...]