BOOKLISTS FOR KIDS 

 

reading FOR CHILDREN

 

 

-- Animal Cruelty --

 


poetry that deals with animal cruelty, blood sports
like fox hunting, bear baiting etc. 

Try John Clare, "Badger" Edward
Dyson's "The Old Whim Horse"

If you can find it in translation, Duncan Ban Macintyre's "Ben Dorain"
has some relevance as the other side of the coin -- it is about deer
running free, and I believe in giving plugs to any who had to contend
with His Grace the Duke of Argyll -- and won.

William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence"?



"The Hunting of the Snark"

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt's "The Old Squire" 

 Henry Fielding's "A-Hunting We Will Go?"

 

There is Hillaire Belloc:
"The Hippopotamus"
I shoot the hippopotamus with bullets made of platinum,
because if I use leaden ones his hide is sure to flatten 'em

"The Frog"
Be kind and tender to the Frog,
And do not call him names,
As "Slimy skin," or "Polly-wog,"
Or likewise "Ugly James,"
Or "Gap-a-grin," or "Toad-gone-wrong,"
Or "Bill Bandy-knees":
The Frog is justly sensitive
To epithets like these.

No animal will more repay
A treatment kind and fair;
At least so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and, by the way,
They are extremely rare).

And then my favourite - about a poor, long-suffering lion called
Wallace!
"The Lion and Albert" by Marriott Edgar
  
There's a famous seaside place called Blackpool,
That's noted for fresh air and fun,
And Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom
Went there with young Albert, their son.

A grand little lad was young Albert,
All dressed in his best; quite a swell
With a stick with an 'orse's 'ead 'andle,
The finest that Woolworth's could sell.

They didn't think much of the Ocean:
The waves, they were fiddlin' and small,
There was no wrecks and nobody drownded,
Fact, nothing to laugh at at all.

So, seeking for further amusement,
They paid and went into the Zoo,
Where they'd Lions and Tigers and Camels,
And old ale and sandwiches too.

There were one great big Lion called Wallace;
His nose were all covered with scars -
He lay in a somnolent posture,
With the side of his face on the bars.

Now Albert had heard about Lions,
How they was ferocious and wild -
To see Wallace lying so peaceful,
Well, it didn't seem right to the child.

So straightway the brave little feller,
Not showing a morsel of fear,
Took his stick with its 'orse's 'ead 'andle
And pushed it in Wallace's ear.

You could see that the Lion didn't like it,
For giving a kind of a roll,
He pulled Albert inside the cage with 'im,
And swallowed the little lad 'ole.

Then Pa, who had seen the occurrence,
And didn't know what to do next,
Said 'Mother! Yon Lion's 'et Albert',
And Mother said 'Well, I am vexed!'

Then Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom -
Quite rightly, when all's said and done -
Complained to the Animal Keeper,
That the Lion had eaten their son.

The keeper was quite nice about it;
He said 'What a nasty mishap.
Are you sure that it's your boy he's eaten?'
Pa said "Am I sure? There's his cap!'

The manager had to be sent for.
He came and he said 'What's to do?'
Pa said 'Yon Lion's 'et Albert,
'And 'im in his Sunday clothes, too.'

Then Mother said, 'Right's right, young feller;
I think it's a shame and a sin,
For a lion to go and eat Albert,
And after we've paid to come in.'

The manager wanted no trouble,
He took out his purse right away,
Saying 'How much to settle the matter?'
And Pa said "What do you usually pay?'

But Mother had turned a bit awkward
When she thought where her Albert had gone.
She said 'No! someone's got to be summonsed' -
So that was decided upon.

Then off they went to the P'lice Station,
In front of the Magistrate chap;
They told 'im what happened to Albert,
And proved it by showing his cap.

The Magistrate gave his opinion
That no one was really to blame
And he said that he hoped the Ramsbottoms
Would have further sons to their name.

At that Mother got proper blazing,
'And thank you, sir, kindly,' said she.
'What waste all our lives raising children
To feed ruddy Lions? Not me!'

 

Pam Ayres has a great humorous poem called 'The battery Hen'
 
The full text is part of a recent interview:
http://womansworld.atalink.co.uk/articles/article-21.phtml
 
Upper Primary/Lower Secondary students particularly love the punch line about laying 'one more bloody egg'

 

The Pivotal Network

Inspiration --- Self Improvement --- Families --- For Teachers --- Books & Reading --- Special Days --- Business & Wealth --- Libraries --- Just for Fun

 Blogs---Newsletters---Products---Quizzes & Tests---eBooks---Quotations---Just for fun---Online courses