Hey Diddle Diddle!: A Great Poem For Kids


                                 
"Hey Diddle Diddle" is a classic nursery rhyme that was written by Mother Goose. This poem is a short but comical fantasy that very literally makes no sense. All of the characters in this poem have been personified to reflect human action, which makes this poem so comical.
  Throughout the poem, several characters are personified to do many things they would not normally do. For example, the cat plays a fiddle and the cow jumped over the moon---both highly impossible feats for animals. Another personification is the little dog when he laughs, though it may sound like an animal is laughing when they make their designated sound, animals do not laugh. One other personification is when the spoon and dish run away, flat and silverware cannot run.
     Also, this poem is very close to the rhyming pattern of a limerick which is traditionally a,a,b,a however, "Hey Diddle Diddle" has an a,a, b, c, d, e, b. The rhyming words are always at the end --oon and --iddle. These rhymes make it easier for young readers to read because the sound is repetitive.
   As a child, this was one of my favorite things to read and I can see why. Because of the repetition, it was easy to read because the sounds were predictable. I also loved the thought of all of hear animals doing the impossible. This made me feel like I could do the impossible, a feeling all children should experience.


Motivational Activities:
  • Have the children pick their favorite personification and make their own drawing of it, then they need to write one to two sentences explaining how they were personified.
  • Using the same rhyming pattern from the poem, the students need to write their own short poem about any topic they choose.
Discussion Questions:
  • Connections: This was one of the first stories that I read as a child. What is a story that you remember reading as a child and how did it shape your reading experience?
  • Can this poem fall under any other genres? Explain your reasoning. 



References: 

Mother Goose. "Hey Diddle Diddle." 

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