Traditional
Many poems and stories of old come to us through an oral tradition and the original authors have not been recorded.
Available Works
Individual Passages
- Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
- An impoverished young man named Aladdin is recruited by a sorcerer to retrieve a lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to double-cross him, Aladdin keeps the lamp for himself, and discovers that it summons a surly djinn that is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the djinn, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries princess Badroulbadour. The sorcerer returns and is able to get his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdin’s wife, who is unaware of the lamp’s importance. Aladdin discovers a lesser, polite djinn is summoned by a ring loaned to him by the sorcerer but forgotten during the double-cross. Assisted by the lesser djinn, Aladdin recovers his wife and the lamp.
- Alphege, or the Green Monkey
- Alphege gains a throne, a queen, and a brother.
- The Prince and the Princess in the Forest
- A prince and his mother set off into the world after the king’s death. The son is brave and clever, while his mother is a coward. She tricks him to help a robber in order to save her own life. The prince rescues a princess, and in turn is rescued by the princess. They are wed, and would live happily, but curiosity leads them both into trouble once more.The prince must find his way back to the princess and avenge himself against the robber and the wrongs committed by his mother.
- The Satin Surgeon
- A king has two daughters, though one is ugly and cruel and the other beautiful and kind. A prince is supposed to be promised to the former, but falls in love with the latter. The bitter sister and the king send away the younger princess to a tower where she is trapped. The prince tries to see his princess, but is harmed by the plans of the elder sister.The princess escapes her tower and sets off to save the prince she loves.
- The Silent Princess
- A spoiled young boy torments an old woman, who curses him to fall in love with the silent princess. He decides he must go into the world and seek this princess, or die. He comes to learn that many others have lost their lives trying to get the silent princess to speak. Luckily, he befriends a nightingale who helps him in his challenges.
- The Snake Prince
- An old woman who has nothing finds a snake in her water jar, and wishes for death. Instead, she discovers a necklace, which earns her wealth. The king buys the necklace, but finds it replaced with the son he so desires.The prince and princess are wed, but she wishes to know the secret of the prince. He warns her of the consequences, which come to pass when he reveals the secret. The princess must work to break the enchantment to get back her prince.
- The Story of Zoulvisia
- Many are enchanted by the mountains but none leave alive. A family loses their seven sons to the mountain until the youngest sets out to try to do what his brothers could not. He manages to break the enchantment, and meets Zoulvisia. Out of kindness, he brings an old woman back to the palace, despite the misgivings of others. The woman is a witch, and Zoulvisia reveals secrets to her that put their lives in danger. The prince and Zoulvisia plan her escape.
- Age
- A child’s nursery rhyme involving multiplication.
- The Ants Go Marching
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching counting.
- As I Was Going to St. Ives
- A child’s riddle involving multiplication and logic.
- Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
- A child's counting rhyme involving a sheep.
- Bell Horses
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching time.
- A Counting Out Rhyme
- A child’s counting nursery rhyme.
- A Diller, A Dollar
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching telling time.
- Dinosaurs
- A child’s subtraction nursery rhyme.
- Doubles
- A child’s counting rhyme about addition.
- Elephants at Work and Play
- A children’s counting poem about elephants.
- Fish
- A child’s counting poem about goldfish.
- Five Little Bees
- A child’s addition nursery rhyme
- Five Little Blue Birds
- A child’s poem about subtraction.
- Five Little Chickadees
- A children’s subtraction poem about chickadees.
- Five Little Ducks
- A child’s subtraction poem.
- Five Little Fishes
- A child’s nursery rhyme involving numbers and counting
- Five Little Piggies
- A child’s counting rhyme.
- Five Little Pumpkins
- A counting Halloween rhyme about pumpkins
- Five Little Speckled Frogs
- A child’s subtraction rhyme
- Five Litte Tadpoles
- A child’s counting rhyme
- Fly Away
- A nursery rhyme involving subtraction
- Four Little Ducks
- A child's counting rhyme involving ducks.
- Four Little Fishes
- A child’s nursery rhyme involving numbers and counting
- How Many Days Has My Baby to Play?
- A nursery rhyme about the days of the week.
- Magpie Rhyme
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching counting.
- Multiplication
- A funny limerick about the frustration of mathematics.
- One for the Money
- A child's counting-out game.
- One Little Flower, One Little Bee
- A child’s rhyme identifying the number “1”.
- One Potato, Two Potato
- A counting poem.
- One to Make Ready
- A child's counting-out game.
- One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
- A child’s counting game.
- One, Two, Three, Four
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching counting.
- One, Two, Three, Four, Five
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching counting.
- Solomon Grundy
- A nursery rhyme that incorporates the days of the week.
- Ten in the Bed
- A child’s subtraction rhyme.
- Ten Little Indians
- A counting rhyme about indians.
- Thirty Days Hath September
- A fun limerick to learn how many days are in each month.
- This Little Froggy
- A child's nursery rhyme teaching counting: similar to "This Little Piggy."
- This Little Piggy
- A children’s poem usually counted on toes.
- This Old Man
- A nursery rhyme involving counting.
- This Pig Went to Market
- A nursery rhyme about pigs.
- Three Young Rats
- A child's nursery rhyme about animals featuring the number three.
- The Twelve Days of Christmas
- A traditional poem/song about Christmas.
- Uno, Dos, y Tres
- A bilingual counting rhyme in English and Spanish.
- A Was an Apple Pie
- A poem incorporating the alphabet.
- Bird Thoughts
- This poem explores the growth of a baby bird and its discovery of the world it lives in.
- The Cat and the Fiddle (Hey Diddle Diddle)
- Children’s nursery rhyme about a cat, fiddle, cow, moon, dog, dish, and spoon.
- Cobbler, Mend My Shoe
- A child's nursery rhyme dealing with time.
- Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!
- A funny nonsensical poem.
- Coffee and Tea
- Two sisters disagree.
- Curly Locks, Curly Locks
- A poem about a man trying to win the heart of a maid.
- Cushy Cow Bonny
- A nursery rhyme (from Mother Goose) originating from a milkmaid chant used to charm her cow to give milk.
- Dance Little Baby
- A nursery rhyme that mimics a lullaby.
- Dapple Gray
- A nonsense and humorous rhyme about a child building a horse out of hay.
- Diddle, Diddle, Dumpling
- A rhyme about a child sleeping with stockings and one shoe on.
- Diddley, Diddley, Dumpty
- A nonsensical nursery rhyme.
- Ding, Dong, Bell
- A limerick about a drowned cat.
- An Egg
- A fun riddle.
- Evening Red and Morning Gray
- A nautical weather proverb
- For Every Evil Under the Sun
- A Mother Goose jingle that acts as a proverb about pessimism.
- Georgy-Porgy
- A nursery rhyme classified as a satire and/or taunt.
- Handy Spanky, Jack-A-Dandy
- A fun limerick about a boy who loves candy.
- He That Would Thrive
- A proverb that praises those who do not procrastinate.
- Here Sits the Lord Mayor
- A fun nursery rhyme/riddle.
- Here We Go Up, Up, Up
- A rhyme about children’s play.
- Hickory, Dickory, Dock
- A rhyme about a mouse.
- Hippity—Hop to the Barber Shop
- A nursery rhyme in the from of a gesture and/or action song.
- Hot-Cross Buns
- A nursery rhyme formatted from a peddler’s cry.
- Humpty Dumpty
- Humpty Dumpty falls, breaks, and can’t be put back together.
- I Am a Gold Lock
- A nursery rhyme that acts a a fun catch.
- I Had a Little Hen
- A fun nursery rhyme about a little hen.
- I Had a Little Hobby Horse
- A limerick about a hobby horse.
- I Have a Little Sister
- A Mother Goose rhyme about a little sister.
- Ickity, Pickity
- Silly children’s limerick.
- In the Merry Month of May
- A poem about the coming of spring.
- Inly, Minly, Dibbity Fig
- Counting-out Jingles, Silly children’s limerick.
- Intery, Mintery, Cutery Corn
- A children’s counting limerick.
- Jack and Jill
- What happened when Jack and Jill went up the hill.
- Jack Sprat
- A nursery rhyme focused on the character sketch of Jack Sprat and his wife as counterparts of each other.
- Jumping Joan
- A humorous limerick.
- Little Betty Blue
- A fun limerick about a girl who loses her shoe.
- Little Bo-Peep
- Tales, Nursery Rhyme
- Little Cock-Sparrow
- A poem about a boy hunting a cock-sparrow.
- Little Girl Where Have You Been?
- Mother Goose rhyme about a girl who gathers roses for the queen.
- Little Girl, Little Girl
- A nursery rhyme about a girl who gathers roses for the queen.
- Little Jack Horner
- Scenes and incidents, Nursery Rhyme
- Little Man Will You Wed?
- A funny limerick about a man in love with a maid.
- Little Miss Muffet
- Children’s nursery rhyme about a little girl and a spider.
- Little Polly Flinders
- Punishment, Choices
- Little Robin Redbreast
- A nursery rhyme about the stereotypical relationship between cats and birds.
- Little Tucker’s Dog
- A nursery rhyme about a dog.
- Maid Mary
- A humorous poem about the daily routine of a farmer and his maid.
- Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
- A nursery rhyme about Mary and her garden.
- Molly My Sister
- A limerick about a silly fight between siblings.
- My Little Old Man
- A nursery rhyme about an argument over money.
- Naught, One
- A nonsense nursery rhyme that closely resembles a jump rope rhyme.
- The North Wind
- A poem about the coming of winter.
- Old Dan Tucker
- A nonsense and/or humorous rhyme about a fictional character Old Dan Tucker.
- Old King Cole
- This merry king called for his pipe, fiddlers, and bowl.
- Old Mother Hubbard
- A nursery rhyme involving the antics of Old Mother Hubbard and her dog.
- The Old Woman in a Shoe
- A nursery rhyme about an old woman who lives in a shoe.
- The Old Woman of Leeds
- A nursery rhyme about a pious old woman performing good works.
- Pat a Cake
- A nursery rhyme about baking a cake.
- Pease Porridge Hot
- Peddler’s Cries, Nursery Rhyme
- Peter Piper
- A nursery rhyme that also serves as a tongue twister about Peter Piper.
- Peter Piper
- Peter Piper picked pickled peppers
- Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
- A nursery rhyme categorized as a scene and/or incident about Peter Pumpkin Eater and his wife.
- Polly, Put the Kettle On
- A funny nursery rhyme about the arrival of guests.
- Pussy-Cat, Pussy-Cat
- A nursery rhyme about a cat and a queen.
- The Queen of Hearts
- A fun nonsensical poem about the Queen of Hearts and her tarts.
- Rain, Rain, Go Away
- A fun limerick about the rain.
- Red Herrings
- A fun nonsensical poem.
- Ride a Cock Horse To Banbury Cross
- A poem about symbolic fertility.
- Robin Hood and Allin A Dale
- A poem about Robin Hood in the form of a ballad.
- See a Pin and Pick It Up
- A proverb concerning luck.
- Simple Simon
- A funny limerick about a pieman and his wares.
- Sing a Song of Sixpence
- The blackbirds that were supposed to be baked in a pie for the king began to sing when the pie was opened. They then flew down to snap off the maid’s nose.
- Sing a Song of Sixpence
- A poem about blackbirds that get baked in a pie.
- Sleepy-Head
- A nursery rhyme exploring character study.
- Swan Swam Over the Sea
- A fun tongue twister.
- There Was a Crooked Man
- A poem about a crooked man.
- This Little Mouse
- A rhyme about a mouse being caught in a trap.
- Trit-Trot, Trit-Trot
- A nursery rhyme that acts a a gesture and/or action song relating the sounds to the actions of trotting to and from a market.
- We’re All in the Dumps
- A traditional nonsense verse that is often sung.
- Wee Willie Winkie
- The poem was recited by the Town Crier to teach children to associate every day tasks with their own lives.
- When the Fog Goes Up the Hill
- Fog goes up; rain comes down.
- Whirly-Whicker-Whaker
- A rhyme about a farmer who chases a hog out of his fodder field.
- Ananzi and the Lion
- A fellow gets the better of a lion.
- “The Badger’s Money”
- A priest gets money from his friend the badger but cannot spend it, although he is very grateful.
- “The Burning of the Rice Fields”
- A grandfather and his grandson grow rice in the rice fields and one day they set fire to the fields to save the people below from impending death.
- “The Dragon and the Prince”
- A prince overcomes a dragon and rescues his brothers.
- “George With the Goat”
- George and his friends overcome great odds.
- “The Good Children”
- How an emperor learned to appreciate old people.
- “The Grateful Foxes”
- A man saves a fox cub, and later its parents save his son’s life.
- “Intelligence and Luck”
- How Luck overcomes Intelligence.
- “The Lad and the Deil”
- A lad tricks the Deil to get into a nut, and he asks a smith to crack it open.
- “The Lad Who Went to the North Wind”
- A lad gets gifts from the North Wind and has to overcome a greedy landlord.
- “The Story of Tom Tit Tot”
- A daughter is given in marriage to the king who demands she spin five skeins a day for one month out of the year. She is helped in her task by an creature who demands she guess his name or become his.
- “Why the Sea Is Salt”
- How a magical quern ended up at the bottom of the sea, grinding out salt.
- “The Wonderful Hair”
- A poor man is given instructions in his sleep as to how to become rich so that he can afford his children.