What childhood bedtime story or nursery rhyme will you never forget?

Well, I read ‘Winken, Blinken, & Nod’ to my kids so many times I might be able to recite it from memory. When I was a kid, my favorite thing was for my dad to tell me a story; he would make up silly stories, starring me, of course!! It is a very fond memory.

“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.”

Lurve for the Greek Mythology, the story of Demeter and Persephone stands out the most ^^

Amen.

I will never forget the first time I read the original version of Cinderella. The stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to be able to fit into the glass slippers, but are caught when a bird spies the blood seeping from the slippers. As a kid, that disturbed me so much.

Now my ten year old daughter is reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales in all their original glory, and each night she tells me what she’s read. Some of them are so gory. She also looooooooves Greek mythology and has read D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths so many times she’s almost memorized it!

When I was 5 (in 1954) I loved to read “The 5,000 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins” by Dr. Seuss. Does anyone know if it’s still in print?

Stone Soup! Anyone else read that book?

Hansel and Gretel walking through the woods, ignoring the voice of their mother and father to return home and how the sweets greedy children ended up as dinner for a troll.

@deni Yep. Also known as nail soup. The important thing is taking it out right before serving.

;-)

Goodnight Moon.

@pdworkin You can find a used copy on Amazon!

@Zen isn’t it awesome!? I forget what its about, but I just remember loving it so much. I should dig it out.

@judochop Classic. Also the Giving Tree?

@MissAusten How very sensible! I shall try!

@deni Here, I’ll read it to you (abbrev. zen version): A brave hunter was walking in the woods, when he got lost. After a while he became very hungry and thus worried he’d gotten really lost as he walked deeper into the forest.

He chanced upon a strange hut, just as he was near ddeath from starvation. It was an old hag’s house, and she was less than inviting.

Nevertheless, he walked in and asked for something to eat. She said she had nothing. Now he could see she had plenty of food, and realized she was behaving this way because she was a stingy old hag.

Not losing a beat, he offered to make her a meal – Nail Soup.

Soup from just a nail? Ridiculous she said.

He told her to find a nail, and he’d show her the grandest meal ever – from only one old nail.

As she looked about for a nail, he filled his bag with meat, vegetables and potatoes and spices.

You know the rest… just remember to take it out before serving.

:-)

The way I heard it, he said, “This is going to be so good, but do you know what would make it even better? You don’t happen to have one little onion, do you?” Etc.

@pdworkin Seen that version as well. :-)

(This was spontaneous and with a little poetic license.)

My dad and I used to sing “Sing a Song of Sixpence” in the car on the way to school every morning. It is a very strange rhyme, particularly the last verse:
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Wasn’t that a dainty dish,
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose.

We also sang “Yellow Submarine” after that, but that doesn’t really count as a nursery rhyme…

Theeee
eensie-weensie
spider
went up the
water spout.

Down came the rain
and
washed the
spider out!

Then out came
the sun that
dried up
all the rain.

And
the eensie-weensie
spider
went up
the spout
again!

This old man, he played one
He played knick knack on my thumb
With a kick knack paddy whack give a dog a bone
This old man came rolling home!
crap, now it’s stuck in my head

I loved the runaway bunny. It’s a really sweet story about a baby bunny and his mother. I also loved Eric Carle books, like the very hungry caterpillar.

Georgie porgie puddin pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play
Georgie porgie ran away

My real father’s name was George. I barely knew him but for some reason I always thought of him when I heard this nursery rhyme.

Maybe subconsciously I knew he was a scum bag? lol. He broke many woman’s hearts. He married so many women and had so many affairs, I couldn’t tell you how many half siblings I have.

OK, this is going to drive me crazy all night. The only picture book I remember loving as a kid was about a cat. I can picture it so well, but can’t remember anything about the story’s plot! I know the cat was grumpy or misbehaved, or possibly felt unloved and unappreciated. I think the cat was grey and kind of scraggly-looking. Tomorrow I’m calling my mom to see if she remembers the title. It was a great book!

@pdworkin – Yes, The 5,000 Hats… is still in print. You can find it here. It was an excellent book, but our family liked the book about Oobleck even more.

Because of my daughter’s taste, I remember I’m a Little Tea Pot complete with hand motions. However, I loved all fairy tales and myths while I was in elementary school, especially the color books of Andrew Lang, and a series of international fairy tales the writer of which I cannot remember.

In high school I got more involved with the Greek and Roman myths and the “real” Grimm’s fairy tales. Then in college I was interested in Celtic fairy tales.

One series I enjoy currently is one that brings the Greek gods into modern times, Rick Riordan’s series about the kids at Camp Half Blood which is located somewhere on Long Island, the children of the Gods’ liasons with mortals. The first one starts with “Narrator Percy Jackson thinks he’s just another troubled 12-year-old, until he vaporizes his math teacher, learns his best friend, Grover, is a satyr and narrowly escapes a minotaur to arrive at Camp Half-Blood….Percy learns he’s the son of Poseidon and embarks on a quest to the Underworld…” the entrance of which is located in Los Angeles.

@Darwin Have you seen the preview for the Lightning Thief movie? My daughter and I are big fans of those books!

@MissAusten No, I haven’t. After Eragon the Movie I have lost hope that what makes the books so good will be captured by Hollywood, but will be ignored instead.

@Darwin Ah, we never did the Eragon thing. I’m holding out hope for Percy Jackson, if only because it’ll give the two of us a reason to ditch all the boys and go out for some fun together. We can rip the movie apart on the way home, just like we do with Harry Potter!

I used to sing this classic Sesame Street song to my son when he was little.

From my own childhood, I remember many songs. Burl Ives was a favorite of mine.

When I was very small, I used to ask my parents to read Socks for Supper to me over and over and over before bed. I was also fond of the Henry the Duck series. And Sand Cake…

Shit, now I wanna dig my “baby” books out of storage and read them all.

Der Mond ist aufgegangen,
Die goldnen Sternlein prangen
Am Himmel hell und klar;
Der Wald steht schwarz und schweiget,
Und aus den Wiesen steiget
Der weiße Nebel wunderbar.

Wie ist die Welt so stille,
Und in der Dämmrung Hülle
So traulich und so hold!
Als eine stille Kammer,
Wo ihr des Tages Jammer
Verschlafen und vergessen sollt.

Here is the English translation:

The moon has risen.
The golden stars shine
in the sky, brightly and clearly.
The woods stand black and silent.
And magically, from the meadows
the white mist is rising.

How still is the world
and, wrapped in dusk,
as intimate and lovely
as a still chamber
where you can sleep
while forgetting the day’s grief.