Little Songs

In In Short

Eliza Lee Cabot Follen’s collection offers a charming treasury of nineteenth-century children’s verse designed to mirror the musical nonsense of Mother Goose while offering wholesome amusement. Across dozens of short poems, young readers encounter blooming gardens, friendly farm animals, domestic pets, and everyday childhood adventures like racing dogs, lost mittens, and snowy frolics. The verses guide children smoothly through a natural diurnal cycle—from waking with the sun to saying a peaceful good night—celebrating the innocence, curiosity, and simple pleasures of early life.

The Story

The collection opens with the bright promise of daybreak and a flourishing natural world where children interact freely with their surroundings. Little Annie tends her garden filled with pinks, roses, and humming-birds, establishing an early landscape of peaceful domestic play. The volume immediately expands its gaze toward the broader wonders of the sky and countryside, where children wonder at the changing shape of the new moon or invite the sun up alongside cooing pigeons and moolly cows. As the day gathers momentum, children step outdoors into a variety of lively, sometimes mischievous encounters. Little Mary chases a frolicsome brook, hoping to keep her boat and flowers safe, though she learns she cannot catch where running water goes. Walter takes his spaniel Flash for a hobby-horse ride, only to have his piece of bread cleverly stolen by the puppy, a minor domestic disappointment gently resolved by an understanding aunt. Other children wander through meadows to question lazy sheep who answer with nothing but ba-a, or watch Master Johnny ride safely on a donkey and her colt. Amidst these outdoor excursions, domestic lessons and indoor games ground the children's experiences. James runs off to join boys at play, tumbling unhurt into a hole, only to be comforted by his mother with the promise that he can play when he is older. Frank attempts to teach his dog Trusty the ABCs, while Charlie boy proudly struts in his tall new boots, feeling like a grown man ready to run errands. The collection captures playful group dynamics, such as a dog, cat, duck, and rat meeting in a rainy barn, or children joining hands in a circle to dance, study, and sing together. Domestic life also involves household chores and shared trials, famously illustrated by three little kittens who lose their mittens, cry to their mother, find them, eat pie, soil them, wash them out, and finally smell a rat close by. Playfulness shifts into imaginative wonder as evening approaches. Children play go-to-bed games when father comes home, celebrate baby birthdays with trumpets and soap bubbles, and marvel at the glowing moon on the nursery floor resembling a bright lamp. The collection winds down through quiet reflections on poverty and charity, noting an old, cold man who needs a warm seat and a bed. Finally, the day closes with a series of tender good-nights directed toward parents, flowers, kittens, and faithful dogs, culminating in the peaceful slumber of the nursery as stars take their turn at play in the night sky.

How It Unfolds

Morning awakening — The collection begins with the rising sun, awakening birds, and children stepping out into gardens filled with posies, sweet peas, and buzzing bees. This section establishes a cheerful, energetic tone that invites sleepy heads to leave their beds and join the lively morning chorus of nature.

Outdoor exploration and gentle mishaps — Children wander through green meadows, chase frolicsome brooks that cannot be caught, and experience minor domestic spills or lost items like Walter's bread cleverly stolen by a hungry puppy. These episodes teach caution and patience while honoring the natural inquisitiveness of young minds encountering the unpredictable physical world.

Domestic and social play — Youngsters engage warmly with household pets, farm animals, and peers through shared ring dances, alphabet lessons given to dogs, and elaborate birthday celebrations featuring trumpets, drums, and soap bubbles. The poems highlight the noisy, vibrant reality of farm yards, bustling kitchens, and cooperative group play.

Evening descent and quiet reflection — As daylight slowly fades, the mood shifts toward cozy indoor games with fathers, lively storytelling, and comforting thoughts of charity toward the poor, hungry, and cold. Children express deep wonder at the glowing moon on their nursery floors and the sparkling stars overhead acting as night-time playmates.

Bedtime and peaceful rest — The volume concludes with comprehensive good-nights addressed to family members, flowers, and faithful dogs, followed by soothing, rhythmic lullabies in cradle nests. Classic nursery narratives, such as the beloved cycle of three little kittens losing, soiling, and washing their mittens, round out the deeply comforting finale.

The People

Little Annie wants to enjoy her flower garden filled with pinks and roses in peace, facing no real obstacles other than the natural busyness of bees and humming-birds, ending her day happily among her blossoms. Little Mary wants to stop a frolicsome brook from carrying away her boat and flowers, but finds that running water cannot be caught, leaving her wiser about nature's persistence. Walter wants to ride his hobby-horse with his spaniel Flash, but his desire is interrupted when Flash slyly steals his bread; thanks to an aunt's gentle intervention, Walter overcomes his annoyance and shares another treat. James wants to join older boys in their rough play, but his small size leads to a tumble into a hole; his mother comforts him and teaches him patience, leaving him content to wait until he grows bigger and stronger. Charlie boy wants to feel grown-up and capable, celebrating his new tall boots that keep him from falling, and he ends up ready to handle errands like a man. Finally, the three little kittens want to wear their mittens and eat pie, but lose and soil them through carelessness; after learning a strict lesson from their mother and washing their garments clean, they end up wiser, more cautious, and ready for whatever rat crosses their path.

In Its Own Voice

The collection captures its wholesome domestic tone when a young child admires the changing celestial body shining brightly outside the nursery window during a quiet evening observation.

O mother, she looks / Like a lamp in the air.

The poetry explicitly reflects children's natural empathy toward the living world, encouraging active kindness and gentle stewardship even toward the smallest flying insects.

Not to hurt a living thing, / Let all little children try.

The volume also embraces playful nonsense and rhythmic verbal mischief that appeal directly to young ears and prompt joyful, uninhibited laughter.

Fiddledee diddledee dido, / A poor little boy he cried, O.

What It's Really About

The collection explores the harmonious, joyful relationship between children and the natural world, treating early childhood as a time of innocent wonder, wholesome learning, and gentle moral development. It examines how children process the world through play, domestic routines, and interactions with animals, framing everyday mishaps—such as a stolen piece of bread or a minor tumble—as valuable opportunities for patience and emotional growth. Beneath its playful musical nonsense and nursery rhymes, the book champions a nurturing environment where adult guidance is warm rather than punitive, and where the natural curiosity of the young is met with affectionate encouragement.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate classic nineteenth-century children's literature, historical nursery verse, and gentle pastoral themes will find this collection deeply charming and historically illuminating. Reading it feels like stepping into a sunlit nineteenth-century parlor or country garden, filled with the innocent cadence of children reciting lighthearted rhymes together. Modern readers should approach the text with historical awareness, as some period attitudes, formal diction, and gentle didactic moralizing reflect the specific Victorian sensibilities of its author. Yet, the timeless sweetness of children marveling at the moon, playing with faithful spaniels, and singing lullabies remains entirely engaging across generations. What stays with you long after closing the book is its comforting rhythmic cadence and its affectionate depiction of an era when childhood was measured in garden flowers, morning sunrises, and peaceful bedtime kisses.