Mother Goose

Mother Goose
Many children are already familiar with the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, which makes them easier to
read for beginning readers. While the origins of Mother Goose may be shrouded in history, the poems
attributed to her still delight children centuries later. This reading set includes some of the most famous of
these beloved rhymes from a 1916 compilation.
Table of Contents
1. Sing a Song of Sixpence

2. The House That Jack Built
3. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
4. A Week of Birthdays
5. Old King Cole
6. Going to St. Ives
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Sing a Song of Sixpence
by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose
Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie!
When the pie was opened

The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house,

Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlor,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,

Hanging out the clothes;
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose.
Questions
1. How many blackbirds were in the pie?
2. In the poem, it says the pie was a “dainty dish." What do you think “dainty”means here?
3. Where was the queen?
4. What happened to the maid?
The House That Jack Built
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.
This is the rat,

That ate the malt
This is the cat,

That killed the rat,
That ate the malt
This is the dog,

That worried the cat,
That ate the malt
This is the cow with the crumpled horn,

That tossed the dog,
That ate the malt
This is the maiden all forlorn,

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built
This is the man all tattered and torn,

That kissed the maiden all forlorn,
That ate the malt
This is the priest all shaven and shorn,

That married the man all tattered and torn,
That ate the malt
This is the cock that crowed in the morn,

That woke the priest all shaven and shorn,
That ate the malt
This is the farmer sowing the corn,

That kept the cock that crowed in the morn,
That woke the priest all shaven and shorn,
That ate the malt
Questions
1. What did the cat do to the rat?
2. What are two words that rhyme in the poem?
3. Who had a crumpled horn?
4. What do you think “sowing” means in the poem when it says, “This is the farmer sowing the corn”?
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Knock at the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight;
Nine, ten,
A good, fat hen;
Eleven, twelve,
Dig and delve;
Thirteen, fourteen,
Maids a-courting;
Fifteen, sixteen,
Maids in the kitchen;
Seventeen, eighteen,
Maids a-waiting;
Nineteen, twenty,
My plate's empty.
Questions
1. Find two words in the poem that rhyme.
2. What numbers say, “Lay them straight”?
3. Who is in the kitchen?
4. Think of another line to follow the line “Nine, ten.” Be sure and make it rhyme.
A Week of Birthdays
Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for its living,
But the child that's born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
Questions
1. What do you think “fair of face” means?
2. What does the poem say about Friday’s child?
3. Who has “far to go”?
4. What day is the Sabbath day in the poem?
Old King Cole
Old King Cole

Was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three!
And every fiddler, he had a fine fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he.
"Twee tweedle dee, tweedle dee," went the fiddlers.
Oh, there's none so rare
As can compare
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.
Questions
1. What are two things Old King Cole called for?
2. Find two word that rhyme in the poem.
3. What sound did the fiddlers make?
4. What kind of fiddle did each fiddler have?
Going to St. Ives
St. Ives is a place in Great Britain. This poem is a riddle. See if you can find the answer. Kits is a short word for
kittens.
----------------------------------------
As I was going to St. Ives

I met a man with seven wives.
Every wife had seven sacks,
Every sack had seven cats,
Every cat had seven kits.
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were going to St. Ives?
Questions
1. How many kittens did each cat have?
2. What was in each sack?
3. How many were going to St. Ives? Explain your answer.

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Mother Goose

1. Sing a Song of Sixpence

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

Sing a song of sixpence,

When the pie was opened

The king was in his counting-house,

The maid was in the garden,

1. How many blackbirds were in the pie?

3. Where was the queen?

4. What happened to the maid?

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

This is the house that Jack built.

This is the malt

This is the rat,

This is the cat,

This is the dog,

This is the cow with the crumpled horn,

This is the maiden all forlorn,

This is the man all tattered and torn,

This is the priest all shaven and shorn,

This is the cock that crowed in the morn,

This is the farmer sowing the corn,

1. What did the cat do to the rat?

2. What are two words that rhyme in the poem?

3. Who had a crumpled horn?

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

1. Find two words in the poem that rhyme.

2. What numbers say, “Lay them straight”?

3. Who is in the kitchen?

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

Monday's child is fair of face,

1. What do you think “fair of face” means?

2. What does the poem say about Friday’s child?

3. Who has “far to go”?

4. What day is the Sabbath day in the poem?

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

Old King Cole

1. What are two things Old King Cole called for?

2. Find two word that rhyme in the poem.

3. What sound did the fiddlers make?

4. What kind of fiddle did each fiddler have?

by Mother Goose from The Real Mother Goose

As I was going to St. Ives

1. How many kittens did each cat have?

2. What was in each sack?

3. How many were going to St. Ives? Explain your answer.

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