THIS IS THE WAY MY FINGERS STAND
To the tune of “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.”
This is the way my fingers stand,
Fingers stand, fingers stand,
This is the way my fingers stand,
So early in the morning.
This is the way I fold my hand,
Fold my hand, fold my hand,
This is the way I fold my hand,
So early in the morning.
This is the way they dance about,
Dance about, dance about,
This is the way they dance about,
So early in the morning.
This is the way they go to rest,
Go to rest, go to rest,
This is the way they go to rest,
So early in the morning.
THUMBKIN, POINTER
Thumbkin, Pointer, Middleman big,
Sillyman, Weeman, rig-a-jig-jig.
NAMING THE FINGERS[A]
BY LAURA E. RICHARDS
This is little Tommy Thumb,
Round and smooth as any plum.
This is busy Peter Pointer:
Surely he’s a double-jointer.
This is mighty Toby Tall,
He’s the biggest one of all.
This is dainty Reuben Ring:
He’s too fine for anything.
And this little wee one, maybe,
Is the pretty Finger-baby.
All the five we’ve counted now,
Busy fingers in a row.
Every finger knows the way
How to work and how to play;
Yet together work they best,
Each one helping all the rest.
[A] From “Songs and Music of Froebel’s Mother Play”; used by permission of the publishers, D. Appleton & Company.
ROBERT BARNS
Robert Barns, fellow fine,
Can you shoe this horse of mine,
So that I may cut a shine?
Yes, good sir, and that I can,
As well as any other man;
There a nail, and here a prod,
And now, good sir, your horse is shod.
“SHALL I, OH! SHALL I?”
A little boy and a little girl
Lived in an alley;
Said the little boy to the little girl,
“Shall I, oh! shall I?”
Said the little girl to the little boy,
“What will you do?”
Said the little boy to the little girl,
“I will kiss you.”
(As the last words are sung, the mother kisses
the little one in the folds of the neck.)
OFF WITH MOTHER GOOSE
from a drawing by mabel lucie attwell