Who Stole the Bird's Nest?, a poem by Lydia Maria Child

Lydia Maria Child, who is best known for her poem, Over the River and Through the Woods, the famous Thanksgiving poem, also wrote many other poems and was an abolitionist, a women's right activist, and Indian rights activist as well as a novelist and journalist.

 

WHO STOLE THE BIRD'S NEST?

LYDIA MARIA CHILD

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!
Such a thing I'd never do.
I gave you a wisp of hay,
But didn't take your nest away.
Not I," said the cow, "Moo-oo!
[376]Such a thing I'd never do."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!
I wouldn't be so mean, anyhow!
I gave the hairs the nest to make,
But the nest I did not take.
Not I," said the dog, "Bow-wow!
I'm not so mean, anyhow."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Coo-coo!
Let me speak a word, too!
Who stole that pretty nest
From little yellow-breast?"

"Not I," said the sheep; "oh, no!
I wouldn't treat a poor bird so.
I gave wool the nest to line,
But the nest was none of mine.
Baa! Baa!" said the sheep; "oh, no,
I wouldn't treat a poor bird so."

"To-whit! to-whit! to-whee!
Will you listen to me?
Who stole four eggs I laid,
And the nice nest I made?"

"Bob-o'-link! Bob-o'-link!
Now what do you think?
Who stole a nest away
From the plum-tree, to-day?"

"Coo-coo! Coo-coo! Coo-coo!
Let me speak a word, too!
Who stole that pretty nest
From little yellow-breast?"

"Caw! Caw!" cried the crow;
"I should like to know
What thief took away
A bird's nest to-day?"

"Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen;
"Don't ask me again,
Why, I haven't a chick
Would do such a trick.
We all gave her a feather,
And she wove them together.
I'd scorn to intrude
On her and her brood.
Cluck! Cluck!" said the hen,
"Don't ask me again."

"Chirr-a-whirr! Chirr-a-whirr!
All the birds make a stir!
Let us find out his name,
And all cry 'For shame!'"

"I would not rob a bird,"
Said little Mary Green;
"I think I never heard
Of anything so mean."

"It is very cruel, too,"
Said little Alice Neal;
"I wonder if he knew
How sad the bird would feel?"

A little boy hung down his head,
And went and hid behind the bed,
For he stole that pretty nest
From poor little yellow-breast;
And he felt so full of shame,
He didn't like to tell his name.

Related  Activities:

 Look at a Birds Nest is a PDF with a whole slew of Bird's Nest activities

My Backyard has some great Bird Watching activities for kids
 
Education dot com has directions for going outside and making a "real" birds nest

Here's a recipe called Bird's Nest which is basically a fried egg in a toast "nest"


 Make a Spaghetti Birds Nest (Non-edible)
 found at http://www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Spaghetti-Nest.html

Here's what you'll need...
• Spaghetti, cooked and cool
• Paint
• Glue
• 2 Bowls
• Spoon
• Wax paper
• Paper plates (optional)


Here's how you make it...
1. Line your bowl with wax paper. Make sure your bowl will mold a big enough nest for what you want to put in it!


2. Mix 1 Tablespoon of Glue with 1 Tablespoon of paint in a bowl. Add 1 Cup of cooked, cooled spaghetti and stir until the spaghetti is covered (if you want to use more or less spaghetti just remember, one part glue, one part paint). If you are using more than one color just place one color on a paper plate or wax paper and clean out your bowl and mix another color.


3. Line your bowl with spaghetti, one or two pieces at a time. Try to arrange the spaghetti up the sides of the bowl, so that your eggs will sit in it.

4. Put your nest up on a shelf to dry. The amount of time your nest will take to dry and harden depends on the size of your nest. At the very least it will take a day, for larger nests it will take 2 or more. You can speed up the drying process by taking off the wax paper once the 'top' of the nest has dried, so that the bottom can get some air and harden.

Kamishibai Man

 Kamishibai Man written and illustrated by Caldacott Award winner Allen Say is a beautifully drawn and told tale of a time when these special men plied their trade on the streets of Japan.                                                    Kamishibai pronounced kah-MEE-shee-bye, means "paper drama" in Japanese. Kamishibai was a popular form of street storytelling in Japan during the late 1920's until the early 1950's. The Kamishibai man was primarily a candy seller. He used storytelling to entice the children to his "store". He then entertained them with his stories. Kamishibai uses illustrated story cards that are slid into a wooden frame which serves as the "stage".  The Kamishibai man frequently told the stories in serial form leaving his patrons with a cliffhanger ending which encouraged them to come see him the next time he came to their area.

Allen Say's Kamishibai Man is his way of remembering the kamishibai men of his childhood. A review of this book at Kamishibai.com says:

"The Kamishibai Man of this story is called simply Jiichan, meaning Grandpa: he belongs to all children who will listen to his stories. His wife is Baachan, Grandma; and she too has an important role, albeit behind the scenes: she makes the sweets that Jiichan hands out to his audience. As the book unfolds, the story shifts almost imperceptibly from the present to the past and his reminiscences of kamishibai themselves become the theater's storyboards. He takes us, his readers, with him as his audience and lulls us with these reminiscences - until we are jolted back into the present by the shouts from the audience in the story-an audience not of children but of adults reglimpsing their lost childhood."   Marjorie Coughlan, June 2006 PaperTigers Reader  www.papertigers.org

To learn more about Kamishibai, you can take a look at storyteller Diane De Las Casas' book Kamishibai Story Theater: The Art of Picture Telling

the following websites can also help you with the history and application of kamishibai:

www.kamishibai.com -  this site gives the history of kamishibai, sells story cards and the wooden stage/frame

www.kamishibai.org  - this is a fairly new site in the UK

www.thestorybike.com -  this site is about a Vermont Kamishibai project

http://www.primaryteachers.org/japan_books.htm - this teacher site features a number of Japanese tales in picture book form as well as information on kamishibai

 The following videos are very helpful in telling what Kamishibai is and in showing it used.

Story extension activity:

Have the children create their own Kamishibai story cards. They can draw pictures on regular paper and then glue them to the front of a piece of cardboard or card stock. You can then write the story action on the back of the cards. 

Only 3 Hours Left! Combining Storytelling and Crafts!

Hand Knit and Crocheted "anything" Finger Puppets

 I call these "Anything" puppets because they are not made to represent any specific animal or person. They are "anything" you imagine them to be.
These are available as a reward on my Kickstarter Project.
I will have directions on how to make them soon!

This Old Man aka Knick-Knack Paddy Whack

"This old man he played one. He played knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack paddy whack, give a dog a bone, this old man came rolling home!"

This Old Man is a very popular nursery rhyme.
It's fun to sing or chant, focuses on rhyming and counting and has been used as the basis for many picture books.

Below is the video version of the book Knick Knack Paddy Whack by Christiane Engel.






Knick-Knack Paddy Whack aka This Old Man Activities:

Make a Song Rebus for This Old Man. Check this one at Enchanted Learning

 Rhyming Words: Point out the rhyming words in the song. Notice the difference in the rhymes used in the traditional version of the song and the rhymes used in the video version. Have the children make up their own number rhymes.

Expand the Rhyme: Make up rhymes up to the number 20 and beyond.

Make up a Story and Act it out: Why is the Old Man playing one...etc? What happens when he is finished?

Read a Different version of the song: Get a copy of  This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt. Ehrhardt's "old man" really swings the song. Here's an example:

"This jazz man, he plays one,
He plays rhythm with his thumb,
With a snap! snap! snazzy-snap!
Give the man a hand,
This jazz man scats with the band."

The lyrics below are just one version of This Old Man:

This old man, he played one
He played knick-knack on my thumb
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played two
He played knick-knack on my shoe
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played three
He played knick-knack on my knee
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played four
He played knick-knack on my door
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played five
He played knick-knack on my hive
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played six
He played knick-knack on my sticks
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played seven
He played knick-knack up in heaven
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played eight
He played knick-knack on my gate
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played nine
He played knick-knack on my spine
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

This old man, he played ten
He played knick-knack once again
With a knick-knack patty-whack, give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home

A Storytelling Chair

 Hmm... maybe that should be, a chair for storytelling?

I saw this chair while cruising the net (hit the wrong keys and there it was) and thought it was really cute. I just wish it looked a little more comfortable but I do love the idea.