You've got two Family Read Alouds on this page! One is an excerpt from the video book which is part of the 14-piece set included with the Read-With-Me Rhymes Series, Vol 1. The series is designed to help children read early ... and reap lifelong benefits. Sixteen Children's Poems that Never Grow Old. The poem is the original children's classic, "The Owl and the Pussycat." Also, below the video, is a "just for fun" annotated version of this childhood favorite.
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The Annotated Owl and the Pussycat
The Annotated Owl and the Pussycat
The owl and the pussy-cat went to sea
(Absurdist. Neither one likes water.)
In a beautiful pea-green boat.
(Gaudy rising classes mocked by author.)
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
(Foreshadows breakup. Honey gives cats indigestion.)
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
(Honeyed money? Fugitives from a sticky situation.)
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
(Much associated with wishing.)
And sang to a small guitar,
(Wishing it were longer for fishing.)
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
(Class war. World upside down, like feline in love with fowl.)
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
(Unreliable narrator. Pussy's a blur to the farsighted owl.)
You are,
You are!
(Repetition suggests insincerity.)
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
(Overselling to the point of temerity.)
II
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
(Hoot-hoot?)
O let us be married! Too long we have tarried.
But what shall we do for a ring?"
(The question is moot. A true feline would give him the boot.)
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows,
(Southeast Asia, nearly extinct, sad to say.)
And there in a wood, a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
(As in the West nowadays. How animals change their ways!)
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
(Repetition hypnotizes children—and adults reading to them—into a sleepy daze.)
III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
(Pig equals Buddha, hence detachment toward gold rings.)
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
(Turkey clergy? New laws that give servants half-a-day off? Quite absurd things!)
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
(The latter being common where they were moored.)
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
(Poets don’t earn much, but have license to invent words.)
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
(Again, they would avoid water like the pox.)
They danced by the light of the moon.
(But gently—a sandy beach is like a huge litterbox.)
The moon,
(What’s so romantic about the moon?)
The moon.
(Or the man in it—crater eyeballs on you.)
They danced by the light of the moon.
— Edward Lear / Lisa Randolph Diop
Illustrations: Lisa Randolph Diop / Dall-E3
HelpRead's mission is to ensure kids can read by the time they should, in a stress-free way ... and without the high cost of a tutor. Volume 1 of the Read-With-Me Rhymes Series is a 14-piece set that includes an 18-page user's manual. Get the three-volume bundle at a savings.
By the way, 40% of children learn to read just by being read to and shown the words ... and without phonics.* That's pretty easy to do ... and enjoyable for the child. But doing it daily may not fit into your schedule. If that's your situation ... or you'd like to add some variety to the storytelling voices your child hears ... why not give our Read-With-Me Rhymes Series a try?
*“Cut the Politics: Phonics is the Best Way to Teach Reading” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/11/phonics-schools-students-read-learn/
OTHER FREE READ-ALONGS FOR YOU AND YOURS TO ENJOY:
Kids Read-Along: Cats and Dogs in Love
Family Read-Along: Goldilocks Goes to Jail
Family Read-Along: Thanksgiving Prayer
Bake ‘Em Off (Holiday Cookies)
There’s a New Year Coming
Rake ‘Em Up
Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles
I Am Never Ever Ever Gonna Hate the Weather
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