Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

Nursery Rhymes: Charms and Lullabies

This story is part of the Nursery Rhymes unit. Story source: The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

I did my storybook project about nursery rhymes, so I thought it was only natural to pick nursery rhymes for this week's reading topic. 

Rock-a-bye Baby:

• This nursery rhyme is one that we are all familiar with (or most of us are)
• It begins with the baby in a cradle hung in the tree
• The wind is rocking the baby back and forth on the tree branch
• But, when the wind blows too hard, the bough bends (not sure what bough means exactly, but it could mean the branch of the tree that the baby is hung on)
• When the bough bends too much, it breaks and makes the baby, cradle and the branch fall to the ground. 

• I think it would be interesting to extend this rhyme because it is vague and leaves many gaps that can be filled in a story. 
• Here is the original rhyme:
HUSH-A-BYE, baby, on the tree top;
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;
When the bough bends, the cradle will fall;
Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.


I found another rhyme about a baby, so it could be cool to blend these two short rhymes to make a more cohesive and detailed story.
-In this rhyme, the baby is being rocked in a green cradle. 
-The father and mother of the baby are royal kings and queens
-And Betty is a lady that wears a ring of gold
-Johnny is a drummer and drums for the king
-It would be interesting to use these characters that the rhyme provided and incorporate them into the Rock-a-bye Baby rhyme. 



(Hush-a-bye. Baby. Source: The nursery rhymes unit blog)