Grandmother Grundy Lyrics
The poem asks Grandmother Grundy what she would say if the katydids took her glasses to the top of the sky and used them to watch eclipses. It is a question with no answer, left for the listener to imagine.
Grandmother Grundy
O Grandmother Grundy,
Now what would you say
If the katydids carried
Your glasses away -
Carried them off
To the top of the sky
And used them to watch
The eclipses go by?
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/grandmother-grundy/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Leroy F. Jackson
- Tune
- A curious, teasing question, rising on the last line
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
What Does Grandmother Grundy Mean?
The whole poem is one question: what would you say? The imagined theft is small and silly. Katydids are green, grasshopper-like insects, and their night-time song sounds like their name. In the poem they borrow Grandmother's glasses, which are spectacles, as binoculars for the sky. An eclipse is when the moon passes in front of the sun, or into Earth's shadow, so that for a short time the light seems to go out.
It makes a good moment for one safety fact. Looking straight at the sun during an eclipse is not safe without proper eclipse glasses, and ordinary sunglasses, however dark, do not protect the eyes (NASA's eclipse safety page says so). Grandmother's glasses would not be enough either.
History and Origin
The poem was printed in Jackson's rhyme book of 1918.
Learning Activities
- Answer the question: ask the child what Grandmother Grundy would say, and write down the answer in her voice.
- Eclipse with a torch: hold a ball in front of a lamp in a dark room and see how its shadow falls on a wall.
- Katydid song: make the sound "katy-did, katy-didn't" together and talk about why it is a good name for an insect.
- Safe sky watching: if there is ever an eclipse, use proper eclipse glasses with an adult.