The Rooster
The rooster started pecking at Granpaw’s legs,
Then tried to flog Granmaw as she gathered eggs.
Granmaw boiled water,
While I churned butter.
The next night we had fried chicken for supper.
The Raccoons
The raccoons ate up all our corn,
Climbed in the car and honked the horn.
They played the radio and danced,
And tried on Granpaw’s underpants.
With handy hands like me and you,
There’s not a lot they can’t do.
If how it goes is how it went,
They’ll own the place,
and we’ll pay rent.
—Mommy Goose Rhymes from the Mountains written by Mike Norris
Both of Mike’s rhymes makes me smile. I’ve never been good at coming up with rhymes, but I live with two people who are. The Deer Hunter and Chitter can come up with a long string of rhyming poetry about pretty much any subject any time they decide to. It’s rather uncanny as well as very entertaining.
You can find your own copy of Mike’s book here.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of Mommy Goose: Rhymes from the Mountains written by Mike Norris. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends December 3, 2024.
Last night’s video: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving in Appalachia.
Tipper
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I had to laugh at the rhyme about the rooster. My Granny lived up the hill from my aunt who helped take care of her. The old rooster took a liking to my Mother and would chase her to the hen house, to my aunt’s house, all over the farm. Mother was scared to death of him and would start screaming as soon as she went out the door. She would scream and run until she arrived at her destination on the farm. She told me the old mean thing made delicious chicken pastry and she enjoyed every mouthful!
I hope I’m not too late to enter. This sounds like a fun read!
I don’t know if I’m too late for this giveaway or not but I love these silly rhymes in this book! My grandchildren would get a goggle out of these!
Sounds like s very entertaining book.
Am sure this is a great read to entertain little ones …… with likely a little humor thrown in to boot bringing smiles to all!
What a great treasure to give and read with your favorite kiddos.
Such a wonderful stepping stone for their love of words and books, and wanting to write their own poetry.
That’s hilarious! There’s a lot of childrens’ books today that I find not appropriate or maybe even too serious. But this book of mountain rhymes seems wholesome and fun!
These poems made me smile too…especially the one about the rooster! It reminded me of a funny and true story about a rooster named Beans. Every time my two grandchildren would go in their back yard, where Beans the rooster roamed free with a few hens, Beans would go on the attack…rushing at the kids and trying to flog them. One day the children’s daddy had enough of that mean rooster. . He decided they were gonna have chicken for dinner. My daughter fried it up and they had a chicken dinner that night… and the kids could run and play in the backyard once again. lol.
I would enjoy reading these rhymes to our preschool music group at church. Rhymes are great for helping children learn to read!!!
The raccoon rhyme is going to be a memorized one in my house once my 8 and 6 year old hear it! They’ve been crazy for raccoons ever since we read Where the Red Fern Grows last month. Love those Mommy Goose rhymes!
I like poetry a lot partly because my Mother was a poet and she also used to read books that had poetry in them too. It just makes me feel good to hear a good poem. ” I’m a pretty good poet but I just dont know it!” That’s my original. LOL!
Cute little book.
So funny !!! Brought a smile to my face every time I thought of those rhymes throughout the day !!!
Enjoyed the rhymes!
don’t send me no book ’cause I can’t read.
so, to desire a book would be pure greed.
stead , mail it to a chile who has not smiled
since the visit from that old mean Helene.
Perhaps a giggle and a soft laugh could begin a tad of a child’s recovery.
These are so funny!
Those rhymes are charming! I’d love to read more.
Those are some very clever rhymes. Thanks for sharing.
I can verify the validity of the raccoon rhyme! We have a few that come every single night and eat the cat food from our porch feeder. They’ll walk right up to us and take food from our hands with their tiny little hands. If the bowl is empty they fuss
I love rhymes and poetry, I’d love a copy of Mikes book. Thank you Tipper, for the opportunity!
How fun! My youngest little gr’son loves rhymes. I can hear him giggle at these.
Sounds like a very entertaining book.
Hearing these rhymes was a good start to the day. Thanks for making me smile.
I’ve enjoyed rhymes and tongue twisters as long as I can remember. Growing up with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles I heard them constantly. When we had ‘talent shows’ in elementary school some students sang or played an instrument. I recited rhymes or poems or told jokes. Some were just silly but many were used to teach morals and safety. I taught many of them to our daughter and she carried them to school to delight the teachers and other students.
That raccoon rhyme gave me the tickles!
Tipper, I loved reading all the comments this morning! The rhymes were so funny, I had to read them out loud to my husband. I especially liked the raccoon one and Melanie’s one in her comment. Of all the giveaways this month, this is my favorite! My best to the lucky winner! Praying daily for the victims of Helene.
Isn’t it amazing how something so silly can give us a good laugh? I just love rhymes. My late father-in-law could make up some of the silliest ones I have ever heard, some he even sang to us. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
The more I think about it, the more I would like this book just for me. With the kids and grandkids up and gone everywhere but around here, this would keep a smile on my face for sure. I know you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Both my Daddy and my Dad are amazing with rhymes and are jokesters. I’m sure thankful for both of them.
Thank you for sharing
My Daddy was like that, he never did any of it to be mean, only to make people he enjoyed being with laugh. I think I inherited some of this, I enjoy joking, teasing or making a wise crack to have fun, never to make anyone mad or to hurt their feelings. When my daughter died some of her coworkers told me she could come up with some of the funniest things to say.
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Most poems rhyme,
But not this one.
Those rhymes are funny and true.
Everyone stay warm. May your Thanksgiving blessings continue.
I would like to say this is a book my grandchildren would love, but I think I would enjoy it as much as they would.
My Grandson would love listening to Mommy Goose nursery rhymes.
Tipper, here’s a silly rhyme that my grandkids love. I don’t know who wrote it- I read it in a book of children’s stories years ago. “The day the rooster got the flu, he could not cock-a-doodle-doo. He could not walk, he could not talk. No one was sure just what to do. They called the doctor to the coop. He brought a bowl of chicken soup. Drink up, he said. It’s good for you. I promise, it’s no one you knew.”
Melanie, I LOVE this poem! Will have to copy and save it to share with others. THANK YOU!!
So funny! I can just see those black-masked bandits making free with anything they can get into. Love that line “If how it goes is how it went”. It has just that little twist that makes me have to pause and think, “Say that again!” A catchy way of saying ‘if things don’t change’.
Also, I’ll pass along an item I think a lot of BP&A readers will appreciate. The Appalachian Christmas train on CSX ran for the 82nd year this week in parts of KY, VA and TN. They got to Erwin, TN somehow, the hardest hit Helene flooding location in TN. This is per a news story in “Epoch Times”.
I needed this smile today! Thank you. One of our old cats is not doing well and off to the vet we go.
I don’t know who said or composed it, but my favorite poetic couplet is, “When called by a panther, don’t anther!” Makes sense to me. I met a man once who spoke in rhymes constantly. It was his gift and his curse. He said he couldn’t control it. A shrink probably has a name for that condition. The man was entertaining for the first five minutes. After that, people tended to find business elswhere.
I still have my childhood copy of Mother Goose Rhymes.
I love these rhymes. I have a few Grands that would love hearing and reading these. I hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving. We had snow so ended up staying home . Just two of us eating. Good thing that I had ham, canned green beans and frozen corn. Thanking God for gardens produce to eat in the cold winters.
Those rhymes remind me of my husband who always has loved puns.
I bet he’d have fun reading and then sharing the rhymes too.
Once in a while the mood will hit me and a rhyme will begin to float around in my brain. I’ve come up with a couple that are pretty good. They’re not very long but usually spring from an occurrence with grandkids or a view of the prairie before my eyes. I would enjoy reading the poems in this book.
I have always looked for the picture books that rhyme. I think good ones are hard to find, even in the used book sections. This looks like such a good book. I think my great nieces and nephew would enjoy it!
Saw a good video this week with Miss Cindy baking a ham. I’m sure she was remembered yesterday. I’m new to your channel so it was good to see Miss Cindy.
Enjoyed the rhymes. I would love to read more.
Our grand daughters would love hearing these!
What fun! I have always been scared of roosters!
Would love this book
I love today’s rhymes. They made me smile also.
I LOVED the raccoon poem-and both poems are quite clever indeed! A few years ago I lay in bed with light streaming in and saw the shadow of what I thought was my cat wanting in, but in my sleepy state, something wasn’t right. When I threw up those blinds and a baby raccoon stared back at me with those black eyes and with hands and fingers like a human, I shagged my behind quickly backward falling onto the bed hollering like a Banshi. It’s those fingers like a human that just spook me. In Ecuador, I was handed a monkey who tried to take my glasses and pull my hair and clothes… It made me nauseated and uneasy getting mugged by a critter…ok I’m scared of critters with hands like humans and most especially BEARS… I once saw a dead bear somebody was tagging in their truck. His hands were HUGE and the claws on each paw were as long as my fingers making each finger a good 8 inches or bigger. He smelled extra gamey too… lol y’all have a great day and I hope you have plenty to eat and rest today! Keep our friends in NC and TN not to mention WV and VA where I still have a roof peeled back like a half open sardine can and it gets at night and windy…there’s folks dead, buried and unaccounted for, folks in tents in this cold and folks like me who still are waiting…..I bet my neighbors think I have NO insurance but it’s a very slow process. Gods love to you all.
I loved reading the rhymes to my grandbabies!! I miss those days. Maybe g- grands someday. Have a blessed day!!
never heard of this book. but such cute rhymes. would love to read the rest of the book. then pass it on to a friend. her baby was born 11/3 which was early due to issues with Mom’s health which causes baby issues. weigh was 1lb 1.2 oz’s. she is now up to 2 lbs 1.2 oz’s. they named her Faith. God is so good
Love these silly rhymes!
when I was little my Nanna use to recite this little rhyme to me…
I climbed up stimber stammer,
I looked over Lumber Leigh
I saw Tom Tricken Tracken
In the land of Wicken Whacken
I told Hucken Bucken
You go chase Tom Tricken Tracken out of the land of Wicken Whacken.
The rhyme is about a child, a rabbit, and a dog. There are motions of climbing the stairs, looking over the land and telling the dog. We loved doing the rhyme. I’ve tried over these many years to find where it comes from, with no luck. Maybe one of your readers may have heard of it.
Hope you enjoyed it
how I wish so much I could place, today’s post in my community post on YouTube, Mike Evans my friends funeral service is tomorrow, God comfort his family
I hope your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Y’all are a special blessing to your viewers! Sending love❣️
Cute rhymes❣️
I just love those silly rhymes. They make me smile.
To wax poetic is a gift of mine,
but it comes on sparingly, not all the time.
So if you’re willing to wait for a day or two,
I’ll try to come up with a rhyme for you!
That sounds like rhymes my husband would come up with too! I love it!!! Always starts my day off right by reading your blog early in the morning.
Love the rhymes. Hope to win a copy of the book.
As a retired second grade teacher, I used silly rhymes to keep the kids attention, the siller the better. I’d love to have a copy of Mike’s book. My niece would enjoy a read out loud time.
Thanks,
Carolyn
Such funny words! My husband’s grandfather, whom we affectionately called “Poppy Dude” played the ukulele and made up funny rhyming diddies all the time. This reminded me of him. So much fun! Thank you for sharing!
Mommy Goose sounds like an entertaining read for all ages.
I grew up with Mother Goose’s rhymes and never heard the Mommy Goose verses. I bet that book has a lot of good’uns…
I’m not good at rhyming, but I do enjoy reading them.
Oh that rooster one is funny. I’d love this book! We have a rooster that hasn’t shown any aggression yet but he and I keep a sideway look on each other whenever I’m in the run. He does seem to keep the girls from pecking at each other all the time though and he’s pretty. I sure hope he doesn’t get mean.
I hope you didn’t name him Aloycious (however that’s spelled). According to a story Mountain Man Bob told at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN it makes a rooster forevermore mean to name him that.
I bought this book from Ebay after I learned about it here but it never arrived and the seller eventually cancelled the order. I am really disappointed! Thank you if I am chosen. There is a subsequent book as well.
I especially liked the first rhyme…besides being funny it is also indicative of how things go on a farm-if an animal is causing issues repeatedly it either gets sold, traded, or eaten lol
I love these rhymes and want to read more! Makes me chuckle!
I have never heard of this book. it sounds hilarious and would love a copy!
Sounds like a great kids book and I know a little girl who would love it! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.
Good morning from southeast Kansas. The Rooster poem bright back memories of a big O black one we had. He had it in for my grandson and every day when he got off the school bus that rooster headed towards him with a vengeance. I left a stick out by the drive for protection. It was kinda comical. But he ended up in a pot as well.
I remember us having a rooster when I was young kid that would flog me anytime I was in the yard. He ended up in a pot of chicken and dumplings after one of these floggings. Back then our chickens ran loose, we didn’t know we were suppose to call them free range chickens. Loose chickens and going barefoot, my excuse for growing so big! Think about it.
I replied to you earlier but it has not been posted, I may have added a little something to it that was not appropriate. When I was a young kid our chickens ran loose, we had a rooster that would flog me anytime I was in the yard. He did this one time too many and ended up in a pot of chicken and dumplings.
Thank you for the rhymes this morning they made me smile! We have raccoons on our property and I can just see them acting that out!
I have never been able to write rhymes or poems and do not like reading poetry. An update about yesterday, my sister in law made a big pan of of good cornbread dressing and giblet gravy. I ate dressing until I busted my belly. And even then I was still chawing but couldn’t swaller! That is when it happen, my belt buckle flew off and knocked a hole in the wall. Truthfully I did skip dessert in order to eat some more dressing and brought a plate of leftover dressing home to eat today.
I read all of yesterday’s comments again last night and I said something similar to the last comment that was made. It may have been made by Kathy, right now I don’t remember. At yesterday’s get together with two of my wife’s sisters along with some nieces and nephews I said “I am enjoying us being together, but I am also sad remembering how it once was before so many of our family members passed away, now we are the old ones and it won’t be very long before we will be gone too.” Please, please enjoy your families while you still can. I have been blessed to never know what it was like to know anything about the fussing and madness that goes on in some families. I can’t help but think sometimes it is over things that “don’t amount to a hill of beans.” Forgive and make up, enjoy one another while you can. I am sure God forgives his Christian family of a lot of things we do that he is not happy with us doing.
Randy,
Such very wise words and encouragement! Thank you!
As usual, I enjoyed reading your comment, Randy! So glad you got your fill of cornbread stuffing……..hope the hole in the wall wasn’t too big!! Have a wonderful day!
Jackie, I had had enough at that moment, I am ready to go another round today. I don’t want to hurt your feelings but I noticed you said cornbread stuffing, to us Southern folks cornbread dressing is not the same as cornbread stuffing. Stuffing is something those Nawthern folks eat. The only thing getting stuffed was me! Please take this the way I meant it, I am just teasing you. I think the wall can be repaired, there is no hope for my belt and buckle!