Essay Week 10: Nursery Rhymes

(Jack and Jill: Wikipedia)

For this reading unit I chose to read the nurseryrhymes.  I love all types of writing that is for children.  I think that this type of writing is creative and really fun to read.  A lot of the nursery rhymes I had heard before and I was excited to turn a favorite nursery rhyme like, Jack and Jill, or Rock-a-bye-Baby into a story.  However, I ended up choosing one I hadn’t heard before so it would be new to the readers also.  In this unit, I really liked that there were so many different groups of nursery rhymes.  My favorite group to read was the Love and Matrimony group.  These rhymes were not only cute and sweet but funny as well!  A lot of people may think that writing a story over a nursery rhyme would be hard because they are only a few sentences long.  I liked this aspect because it gave me a base to go off of and then I got to fill in all the details of the story with my own ideas!  The nursery rhymes are so versatile and one could come up with so many different ways to tell a story with them.  The one thing that I did not like about choosing this section was that the majority of the rhymes did not have a title or a link.  I wanted to include several into my reading diary but decided not to because I did not have an exact title for the rhyme.  There were also a lot of rhymes included in each section.  They were all very short though, and this made it easy to pick and choose which ones I could write about.  Overall, I would definitely recommend the nursery rhymes for this unit.

Storytelling for Week 11: Willy Boy and Tommy

WILLY boy, Willy boy, where are you going?

I'll go with you, if I may.

"I'm going to the meadow to see them a mowing;

I'm going to help them, make hay."

-Nursery Rhyme 

One fine summer’s day, Willy Boy and his friend Tommy were playing in the yard.  They were sons of Rancher’s and dreamed of one day owning their own plantation.  They were youngsters but wanted to help their dads in anyway they could.  Willy Boy and Tommy would always do small task around the ranch.  Each day the boys would split up the chores so they could learn how to do all of the chores and also get them done faster.  Earlier that day the boys had to rake the leaves, feed the horses, clean the stalls, water the garden, and shell the peas.  Their dads had gone out to the meadow to cut the hay and roll it up into hay bales.  The boys were told to stay at home because this was a “big boys” job.  “One day, Willy Boy, we’ll be big enough and strong enough to cut and bale the hay,” said Tommy.  “You’re right Tommy. One day…”  To pass the time, the boys decided to head to the swimming pond.  They jumped and splashed the cool creek water as they laughed and played.  They could hear the sound of the tractor from a short distance away but tried to forget about it.  They went to a sun patch near the creek to lie down and dry off.  Soon the boys had drifted into a faint sleep.  An hour later, Tommy heard a rustling of leaves that awoke him.  He sat up and rubbed his eyes looking to find what was making the noise.  He noticed that Willy Boy was not beside him anymore.  “Willy Boy!” cried Tommy.  “Where have you gone?”  Willy Boy heard Tommy calling his name and turned back toward the creek, as he had not gone far.  “Tommy, I’m headed to the meadow where our dads are.” “Willy Boy, you know we can’t go out there.  They are baling the hay and that job is not for us.”  “I’m tired of waiting Tommy.  I want to be a rancher like my dad and I am ready to learn how to bale hay.  Maybe if we go we can show them how much we want to help!”  “Good idea Willy Boy! Let’s head to the meadow and help them bale some hay.  We’ll really show them how much we want to be like them!”  The boys set off to the meadow were their dad’s were on the tractors cutting and baling the hay.

(Baling hay: Pixabay)

Author's Note:  I created a story using the nursery rhyme in the Relics section.  I included the nursery rhyme at the beginning of the post that way readers could identify it easier.  I used the same dialogue in my story as in the nursery rhyme.  I wrote a simple story that went along with the nursery rhyme.  I had fun writing this one because I come from a small farming town and knew many kids like Willy Boy and Tommy!

Bibliography:

The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Reading Diary Week 11: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes

Tales

Babes in the Wood- two children were left alone in the woods.  There were never found and eventually died.  The birds covered them with leaves.

The Lion and the Unicorn- a lion beat a unicorn for a crown.  They were given various foods then sent out of town.

Taffy was a Welshman- a man named taffy took something from a friends house while he was gone.  They continued taking things from each other until one day his friend poked him with a poker.

Charms and Lullabies

Rock-a-bye-baby- A baby in a tree top will fall when the wind blows.

Cushy Cow Bonny- someone is milking a cow.  They are going to make gowns and a tee out of the milk.

Love and Matrimony

Jack and Jill- they climb up a hill to get water and they both tumble down

Georgie Porgie- Georgie would kiss the little girls making them cry.  When the girls later came out to play he would run away.

Relics

Willy Boy- goes to pasture to watch them cut the hay.

Little Miss Muffett- Miss Muffett was eating curds of whey when a spider crawled next to her.  She was frightened and ran from the spider.

What are Little Boys Made Of?- little boys are made of puppy dog tales and snails and the girls are compared to them as made of sugar and spice.

Storytelling for Week 6: The Two Nerds

Two little children were sitting together at lunch in the school’s cafeteria. They had been friends for many years but had not made any other friends. Many kids picked on them because they wore glasses and carried Pokémon lunch boxes. The two little kids always ignored the comments and were thankful to have each other as friends.

One day, the two little kids were walking home when they ran into a big mean bully. The big mean bully grabbed both of them by their underpants and went over to the side of the road. The two little kids kicked and squirmed but could not get out of the strong grasp of the bully. The bully then hung the kids by their underpants up on the nearby fence post and left them hanging there as he ran off in laughter.

A horse in the field on the other side of the fence saw what happened and galloped over to help the kids. He grabbed each one by the strap of their suspenders and lifted them off the fence post onto the ground. The horse said, “Let me follow you home tomorrow and I will protect you from the bully.” The kids began to run the rest of the way home after thanking the horse, because now the bully would not come back and get them. On the way they passed a barn cat that asked them, “Why are you two kids running so fast?” The kids told the cat about the bully and the cat wanted to help protect the kids the next day just like the horse did. Before the kids could make it home, they ran into a rooster and a porcupine. Both the rooster and the porcupine asked the kids why they were in such a hurry to get home. After the two little kids told them about the bully, they also wanted to protect them the next day.

The next day finally arrived and the two little kids went to school. They did not see the bully all day and when the bell rang they began to head home. They ran straight to the horse in the field that was waiting on them. As the kids were approaching the horse, they heard the bully yelling at them nearby. The horse neighed at them to jump on his back. The bully was getting closer but the horse managed to gallop off towards the kids’ house faster than the bully could run. The kids hopped off the horse’s back and began to run the distance that was left to their houses.

The bully had taken a different route and cornered them a distance relative to one block away from their houses. The barn cat was hiding a top his barn next to where the bully had cornered the kids and jumped on the bully’s back. The cat began screeching and clawing at the bully, distracting him as the kids kept running home. The bully was taken by surprise from the cat’s attack and, exhausted, began to walk one more block to the kids' house. “These two little nerds will not get away with this!” yelled the bully. In the meantime the two little kids had arrived at their house and had the rooster and porcupine stand watch. When the bully showed up, the rooster began chasing the bully. “No rooster will stop me from beating these nerds!” screamed the bully. The bully ran around in circles trying to escape the rooster. He began to get dizzy and stumbled, landing on something very pokey. “Owww oww oww oww!” cried the bully. He jumped up and saw a porcupine where he had fallen and reached down to his leg where there were many porcupine needles stuck!

The bully ran off back to his house crying and hopping on one leg. The two little kids watched from the window as the rooster and the porcupine had scared off the big mean bully. After that day the two little kids never had a problem with being bullied by anyone ever again. The animals always watched the kids walk home in case they needed to protect them again.

(Superheros:Smosh)

Author's Note: This story is from The Two Little Cats story from the Tibetan Folk Tales unit.  I went along with most of the story except I used all animals that were saving humans.  In the original story there were animals and objects that had a plan to protect the kittens from a mean Handre.  A Handre is a very scary beast in the Tibetan folktales.  The Handre is supposed to be one of the scariest things because it has big sharp teeth and claws that would easily eat up the kittens.  The kittens ran into several animals that wanted to help them just like the kids in the story I created.  I was trying to create a story that was relatable to readers.  A situation where kids are subjected to a bully seems to be very common in everyday life.  I loved animals as a kid and I feel like in general kids find comfort in animals.  I used the animals to help the kids because of this concept.  The picture has to be my favorite part of the story.  I came across it and thought it depicted my story perfectly!  The kids felt so safe and powerful with the protection of the animals, just like the kid in the picture!

Bibliography:

The Two Little Cats Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).