There Once Was a Guineable Ami-pig

Yesterday at the Hole-in-the-Wall used book store I found a copy of Beatrix Potter's Nursery Rhyme Book. This was a favorite of my daugher's when she was very young. We used to read them together until she knew them by heart. She liked to say, "There once was a guineable ami-pig." instead of "There once was an amiable guinea-pig" and it cracked us both up. Is there anything more fun than discovering your child has a sense of humor?

Two poems for my daughter:

There once was an amiable guinea-pig,
Who brushed back his hair like a periwig—

He wore a sweet tie
As blue as the sky –

And his whiskers and buttons
Were very big.

Beatrix Potter


Appley Dapply, a little
brown mouse,
Goes to the cupboard in
some-body’s house.

In somebody’s cupboard
There’s everything nice,
Cake, cheese, jam, biscuits,
-- All charming for mice!

Appley Dapply has little
sharp eyes,
And Appley Dapply is so fond
of pies.


Beatrix Potter

The Secret Lives of Dresses

You know, sometimes, when you're being worn, you don't pay all that much attention. I mean, you're there, where else would you be, but you're not all the way there. Me, I was thinking about whether or not we'd walk home and get me all sweaty on a day that was too warm for late April, or if we'd try to get on the streetcar, which would still be hot but take less time. So I didn't realize anything was happening other than a regular old day at the office until I felt the drops.

Read the rest. You'll like it. There are more if you spot the links in the upper right hand corner of her blog.