Crazy Brits!
My mom has bought quite a few books for Madeline, and several of them are from British publishers. One contained the following sentences, in a list of what was eaten at several times throughout the day: “What is for pudding? It’s ice cream for pudding. Yipee!” Wow, how confusing is that to an American kid? If we let Madeline read too many books like that, she is going to have some real spelling confusion. ‘Programme’ and ‘Favourite’ aren’t too bad but ‘pyjamas’ is right out!
Another book contained some…well, “interesting” rhymes and poems such as:
“Three Wise Men of Gotham”
Three Wise Men of Gotham
Went to sea in a bowl:
And if the bowl had been stronger
My song would have been longer.
“Solomon Grundy”
Solomon Grundy
Born on Monday
Christened on Tuesday
Married on Wednesday
Sick on Thursday
Worse on Friday
Died on Saturday
Burried on Sunday
That was the end
Of Solomon Grundy.
—-
Okay, that first one is just odd, but the second one is kind of disturbing for children’s literature if you ask me. Though, I guess no more disturbing in some ways than the morbid classic “Rock-a-bye baby” where the cradle is presumably falling from several feet in the air. How did these become classics, anyway? It would certainly be interesting to know.