Says A, Give Me a Good Large Slice Lyrics
At dinner each letter of the alphabet says something about the pie, from A asking for a large slice to the ampersand licking the dish.
Says A, Give Me a Good Large Slice
Says A, Give me a good large slice.
Says B, A little Bit, but nice.
Says C, Cut me a piece of Crust.
Says D, It is as Dry as Dust.
Says E, I'll Eat now, fast who will.
Says F, I vow I'll have my Fill.
Says G, Give it to me Good and Great.
Says H, A little bit I Hate.
Says I, I love the Juice the best.
And K the very same confessed.
Says L, There's nothing more I Love.
Says M, It makes your teeth to Move.
N Noticed what the others said.
O Others' plates with grief surveyed.
P Praised the cook up to the life.
Q Quarrelled 'cause he'd a bad knife.
Says R, It Runs short, I'm afraid.
S Silent sat, and nothing said.
T thought that Talking might lose time.
U Understood it at meals a crime.
W Wished there had been a quince in.
Says X, Those cooks there's no convincing.
Says Y, I'll eat, let others wish.
Z sat as mute as any fish.
While ampersand, he licked the dish.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/says-a-give-me-a-good-large-slice/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Spoken in a quick list, one letter after another
- Best for ages
- 4 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Says A, Give me a good large slice | Hold out both hands wide, asking for a big slice. |
| Says D, It is as Dry as Dust | Wave a hand in front of your face and cough a pretend cough. |
| Z sat as mute as any fish | Press your lips together and stay still as a fish. |
| While ampersand, he licked the dish | Lick an imaginary dish and rub your tummy. |
What Does Says A, Give Me a Good Large Slice Mean?
Each letter says or does something that begins with itself: B wants a little Bit, C asks for Crust, D finds it Dry as Dust, E will Eat, and so on. The capital letters inside the lines show the trick. J and V have no line of their own because in older alphabets I and J counted as one letter, and so did U and V. That is why the line for I speaks of Juice, and why the heading counts twenty-five letters with the ampersand, the sign &, at the end.
The verse itself talks about a slice, crust, juice and a quince. The joke at the end is that the ampersand, the last to speak, is the one who licks the dish.
History and Origin
The verse is in National Rhymes of the Nursery under the heading A curious discourse about an Apple-pie, that passed between the Twenty-five Letters at Dinner-time. The heading counts the ampersand as the twenty-fifth letter.
Learning Activities
- Alphabet dinner: give each child one letter and let them say their line at the right moment.
- Capital clues: find the capital letter inside each line and say which word it starts.
- Missing letters: look through the lines to find the two letters that have no line, then invent lines for them.
- Pie drawing: draw a pie and write a letter on each slice.