Puffins

Keeping with the poetry theme, I tried to think of poems I knew by heart. One of my favourites is There Once Was a Puffin. As a single mom one of my careers was selling World Book Encyclopedia door to door. Part of the training introduced me to how important it was to read to children, even babies.

I bought Chidcraft when my daughter was still a toddler. One of the best investments I ever made. It was here that she gained her love for language, creativity and learning.The first one we read was Poems & Stories. We read this one a lot. I googled it to make sure I still knew it word for word. My google search took me to Puffinpalooza. Who knew there was a whole blog about puffins. Check it out, very cool.  Under this poem was a comment from a reader of the blog.

and I quote:

“I love it! My 93-year-old mother who has dementia also is able to recite the entire poem from memory. She has had a passion for both poetry and puffins her whole life.”

I guess if I make it to 93 and can still remember this poem, I will be just fine.

“

There Once Was a Puffin

Oh, there once was a Puffin
Just the shape of a muffin,
And he lived on an island
In the

     bright

                      blue sea!

He ate little fishes,
That were most delicious,
And he had them for supper
And he

     had them

          for tea.

But this poor little Puffin,
He couldn’t play nothin’,
For he hadn’t anybody
To play

     with

          at all.

So he sat on his island,
And he cried for a while, and
He felt very lonely,
And he

     felt

                       very small.

Then along came the fishes,
And they said, “If you wishes,
You can have us for playmates,
Instead

     of

                   for tea!”

So they now play together,
In all sorts of weather,
And the Puffin eats pancakes,
Like you

           and

                     like me.

by Florence Page Jaques