Tyme for a Rhyme

By Nan Solum

Tyme for a Rhyme is a fully illustrated compilation of children's verses and is designed to entertain, teach, and perhaps bring a feeling of nostalgia to grown-ups who remember the old-fashioned poems and illustrations of their youth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886548471

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Tyme for a Rhyme

Nan Solum

Copyright © 2023 Nan Solum

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2023

ISBN 979-8-88654-846-4 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-88654-847-1 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Ant Mame

The Old Sailor

The Gentle Lion

Down in the Dumps

After the Rain

Cleo the Cat

Fishing

Fingerprints

Alphabet Story

I Love Chocolate

Do You Think It's because of the Dark?

Eggbert the Egg

Living at the Zoo

A Prehistoric Tale

A Fantasy of Delights

A Dove Story

How Do You Get the Tuna in the Tuna Fish Can?

Johnny's Place

I Hate Taking Baths

Scamp the Tramp

Checkers

I'm Havin' a Very Bad Day

Sir Francis Bacon

Teddy the Bear

I Dropped My Ball

David Deville

Corny

Dressing Up

The Hoagie Sandwich

The Bridge o'er the Serpent's Bend

The Singing Chef

Snyder the Spider

Horace the Horse

Sandcastles

Howard the Coward

Sissy Sassafras

Suzy Tishes Hates to Wash the Dishes

The Spirit of Christmas

The Boyz Club

The Birthday Cake

The Blue Kazoo

The Candy Store

Lollipop

The Masked Bandit

Mick, Mack, and Mike

Pepper Street

Otto the Auto

Oscar the Octopus

Mr. Kitt

Percy Soothsayer

Prissy Priscilla

Going to the Fair

The Vegetable Garden

Helga the Witch

Perky the Turkey

Herm the Worm

The Hairy Fellow

The Pie Odyssey

The Saturday Matinee

The Girl with the Prettiest Smile

The Church Organ

Green Eggs

Wallace the Walrus

The Holey Shoes

The Cowlick

Tom the Tomcat

The Library

The Silly Hobby

The Itch

What's That Funny Little Sound?

Baccamoon

Tubby Butterball

The Pickle Barrel

Wrinkles

The Carousel Horse

The New Pair of Pants

The Man in the Moon

Who Stole the Ham?

The Magician

What's a Whirligig?

The Weeping Willow

The Pet Shop

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my husband and soulmate, Carl Liljedahl,

A special thank you to my friend and mentor, Ron Soares.

The Heart Within

This world would be a better place

If we could look beyond the face

And see within, and not

The color of the skin.

It isn't the size that counts,

It's the heart within;

And in the end,

We are all God's children

My friend.

—Grace Stewart

—Karen White

Ant Mame

Once upon a time

In a town called Baine,

There lived a tiny ant,

And her name was Mame.

She worked very hard

From dawn until dusk,

Until one spring day,

She was tired of the fuss.

She left her anthill

To seek a new life,

Away from the cities,

The crowds and the strife.

She made a nice home

In a hollow log,

Away from the cold,

The rain, and the fog.

At night she would sleep

On a feather bed,

A single plume

From a robin's head.

She'd drift off to sleep

'Neath the starry sky,

Lulled by the crickets'

Sweet lullaby.

She often would crawl

To the strawberry patch,

And pick for herself

A big juicy batch

Of pollen and nectar

And nice things to munch,

Which she carried back home

And had for her lunch.

From time to time,

She would visit her friends

At the anthill in Baine,

Just around the bend.

But she always returned

To her home in the woods,

'Neath an old oak tree

Where her little log stood.

You might say Ant Mame

Was a queer little bug,

But her home was as snug

As a slug in a rug.

The Old Sailor

There once was an old sailor

Named Johnny Jack Bristow,

He grew up on the beaches

Of old San Francisco.

He had an Irish pan face

With a ruddy complexion,

And a fine sense of humor

That was full of affection.

He wore a captain's hat

Upon his balding head,

His brows were full and black

With a slight touch of red.

The glint in his kind eyes

Showed the wisdom of age;

Though he was a poor man,

Jack was a wise old sage.

He loved to tell strange stories

Of his seafaring youth;

When he spoke, there were flashes

Of his gold snaggletooth.

Children young and old

Loved to gather round to hear

Stories of his travels

And adventures far and near.

He became an orphan

At the tender age of twelve;

When his father passed away,

No food was there to shelve.

He was a wild, rejected waif

Who learned to live off the land

By fishing the many beaches

And sleeping on the sand.

With the homeless urchins

Wandering in the streets,

He learned to be sleight of hand

And pilfer things to eat.

They watched great dray horses

Pull with might and will

The heavily laden wagons

As they clambered up the hills.

While they stretched and strained

On steep slopes with their loads,

The urchins sneaked up and swiped

The produce and bread loaves.

Jack only had schooling

Up to the sixth grade,

But he was destined to learn

All about a seaman's trade.

He went to sea as a cabin boy

And worked his way up to

A handsome merchant seaman

With an able-bodied crew.

He traveled all the world

At a time that had seen

The end of sailing ships

And the dawning of steam.

Then he settled in a shanty

That once was an old shed,

With a few bits of furniture

And a hammock for a bed.

Jack's little shanty

Was a humble abode,

But it had a special charm

Under a candle's warm glow.

He had a modest table

Covered with a worn oilcloth,

And three rickety old chairs

That had been nibbled by moths.

He had a brown wooden icebox

With tomato juice in the rear,

Along with cream, eggs, bacon,

And an occasional beer.

One uncovered light bulb

Hung from the low ceiling,

But Jack often