Christina Rossetti Poems for Children from Sing-Song

These 46 poems are by Christina Rossetti, who was born in London on 5 December 1830 and died there in December 1894. Her brother Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a painter and poet. Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book first came out in 1872, and an enlarged edition followed in 1893; the 1893 title page, from Macmillan, announces one hundred and twenty illustrations by Arthur Hughes, engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. The poems here are short, from 4 to 36 printed lines, so most take under a minute to read aloud. Each page has the full words, what they mean, the old or unusual words explained and an activity for a child.

Seasons, weather and sky. January Cold Desolate walks through the year and names every month. Who Has Seen the Wind? says nobody has seen the wind, but everyone can see what it does to leaves and trees, and The Wind Has Such a Rainy Sound listens to wind, sea and apples dropping in an orchard. O Wind, Where Have You Been asks the wind where it has been, If All Were Rain and Never Sun says rain alone cannot make a rainbow, and I Dug and Dug Amongst the Snow digs for flowers in snow and then in sand. Oh, Fair to See shows one cherry tree twice, white with blossom in April and red with fruit later. Bread and Milk for Breakfast is about what makes a cold day bearable, and Is the Moon Tired? asks about the pale moon.

Animals. Hopping Frog, Hop Here and Be Seen speaks kindly to a frog and a toad, The Caterpillar begins Brown and furry, and Hurt No Living Thing asks children to leave eight small creatures alone. What Does the Donkey Bray About? asks Nurse what the animals mean by their noises, Kookoorookoo! is a rooster crowing in the dark, and If a Pig Wore a Wig asks what you would say to a pig in a wig. There are lambs, a hen, a mouse and a peacock: A Frisky Lamb, A Motherless Soft Lambkin, A White Hen Sitting, The City Mouse Lives in a House, The Peacock Has a Score of Eyes, Brownie, Brownie, Let Down Your Milk, I Caught a Little Ladybird and The Horses of the Sea, which compares waves to horses.

Counting, colours, time and money. How Many Seconds in a Minute? teaches the units of time in six questions and answers, What Is Pink? gives eight colours with eight answers, and What Will You Give Me for My Pound? is about old British money. Mother Shake the Cherry Tree shares cherries out one by one, Eight o'clock counts the letters the postman brings, and Mix a Pancake runs through the steps of making one.

Babies and bedtime. Lullaby, Oh, Lullaby! has a refrain that comes back five times, Love Me, I Love You is a short song to sing high or low, I Know a Baby, Such a Baby describes a baby from head to wrist, and Baby Cry, Oh Fie coaxes a crying baby with a counting trick.

Children at play and work, and wishes. Margaret Has a Milking-pail and Minnie and Mattie are about early mornings and a spring day, Dancing on the Hill-tops and Clever Little Willie Wee each pick out one child, and A House of Cards and A Pocket Handkerchief to Hem are about building and sewing. A Diamond or a Coal? and The Lily Has a Smooth Stalk weigh two things against each other, Growing in the Vale introduces Lady Daffadowndilly, and Ferry Me Across the Water and O Sailor, Come Ashore meet a boatman and a sailor. The last two are If a Mouse Could Fly, a set of impossible wishes, and A Ring Upon Her Finger.