Slippery Slim Lyrics
A garter snake named Slippery Slim leans on a rake and smiles a tender smile at Tilly Toad, who is so shy that she hops away and hides her face in a carrot-top. Six lines in three rhyming pairs.
Slippery Slim
Slippery Slim, a garter snake,
Leaned against a garden rake
And smiled a sentimental smile
At Tilly Toad, on the gravel pile,
Till that bashful miss was forced to hop
And hide her face in a carrot-top.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/slippery-slim/
- Type
- Poems for Children, Animal Rhymes
- Written by
- Leroy F. Jackson
- Tune
- Playful, with a long slow smile on the word sentimental
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Slippery Slim, a garter snake | Make a wavy snake with one arm. |
| Till that bashful miss was forced to hop | Hop once on the spot and cover your face with both hands. |
What Does Slippery Slim Mean?
A garter snake is a small snake, harmless to people, that is often seen in gardens, so a garter snake relaxing in the garden is a normal sight. The poem makes the snake a suitor. Sentimental means full of tender feeling, so a sentimental smile is the smile of someone who has taken a liking to another. The toad, Tilly, is called a bashful miss, which means a shy young lady, and she is so shy that she hops away and hides her face in a carrot-top, the leafy green end of a carrot.
The lines rhyme in pairs: snake and rake, smile and pile, hop and top. The poem does not say what Slim does next, so the ending is a mild joke about shyness. It is a kind rhyme for a child who is shy of being stared at.
History and Origin
The animal verse dates from 1918, the year of the copyright line in Jackson's book.
Learning Activities
- Garden detectives: look under a pot or leaf pile with a grown-up for toads, worms and other garden creatures, and put everything back.
- Hide your face: play a quiet peekaboo game where each child hides behind their hands and peeks out.
- Draw the garden: draw the rake, the gravel pile, the snake and the toad.
- Name an animal: give a garden animal a funny rhyming name, as Slippery Slim and Tilly Toad are named.