Wasn't It Funny? (Little Tom Thum Has Swallowed a Steeple) Lyrics
A five-line tall tale. The speaker announces that tiny Tom Thum has swallowed a whole steeple, then gives the easy answer: the steeple was made of white sugar.
Wasn't It Funny? (Little Tom Thum Has Swallowed a Steeple)
Wasn't it funny? hear it all people!
Little Tom Thum has swallowed a steeple!
How did he do it?
I'll tell you, my son:
'Twas made of white sugar, and easily done!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/wasnt-it-funny/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- Tune
- Called out like a news announcement, then dropped to a confiding voice for the answer
- Best for ages
- 3 to 7 years
Hand Motions and Actions
| When you sing | Do this |
|---|---|
| Hear it all people! | Cup the hands round the mouth and call out like a town crier. |
| Little Tom Thum has swallowed a steeple! | Hold finger and thumb close together for tiny Tom, then reach both arms high for the steeple. |
| 'Twas made of white sugar | Stack two fists like sugar cubes and smile. |
What Does Wasn't It Funny? (Little Tom Thum Has Swallowed a Steeple) Mean?
The rhyme sets up a puzzle and solves it. A steeple is a tall, pointed tower on top of a church, and no one could swallow one, least of all someone as small as Tom Thumb. So the speaker asks the question for the listener, How did he do it?, and then promises the answer, I'll tell you, my son: the steeple was made of white sugar, and so swallowing it was easy.
The pleasure is in the build-up. The first two lines are a loud announcement that begins hear it all people. The third is the question and the fourth leads into the answer, and the answer takes the air out of the big claim, which children enjoy. Said aloud, people rhymes with steeple, and son with done.
History and Origin
The rhyme is in The Little Mother Goose, a 1912 collection of nursery rhymes. The rhyme spells the hero Tom Thum, which is Tom Thumb, the tiny hero of an old English story. The first printed story of Tom Thumb was published in London in 1621, almost three hundred years before this book.
The verse opens like a public announcement, with the speaker calling on everyone to listen.
Learning Activities
- Sugar steeple: stack sugar cubes into a small tower and compare it with the steeple of a real church or a picture of one.
- Town crier: let the child shout the first two lines like a crier and whisper the last three.
- Tiny hero: draw Tom Thumb next to a thumb, a spoon, and a steeple to see how big each one is.
- Your own tall tale: make up a new big claim and a simple answer that takes the air out of it.