Poem - Do You Know It?

[Guest]

hi everyone - I have in my mind a poem about a child who wants to paint/draw a flower but cant because she hasnt been told what colours to use - searching for words for an inset day ???? Anyone else know it ? DiZZZ

[Marion]

"The Little Boy"

 

Anonymous

 

Once a little boy went to school.

 

He was quite a little boy.

 

And it was quite a big school.

 

But when the little boy

 

Found that he could go to his room

 

By walking right in from the door outside,

 

He was happy.

 

And the school did not seem quite so big

 

Anymore.

 

One morning,

 

When the little boy had been in school awhile,

 

The teacher said,

 

"Today we are going to make a picture."

 

"Good," thought the little boy.

 

He liked to make pictures.

 

He could make all kinds,

 

Lions and tigers,

 

Chickens and cows,

 

Trains and boats.

 

And he took out his box of crayons

 

And began to draw.

 

But the teacher said, "Wait,

 

It is not time to begin."

 

And she waited until everyone looked

 

Ready.

 

"Now," said the teacher,

 

"We are going to make flowers."

 

"Good!" thought the little boy.

 

He liked to make flowers.

 

And he began to make beautiful ones

 

With his pink and blue and orange

 

crayons.

 

But the teacher said, "Wait,"

 

And I will show you how."

 

And she drew a flower on the

 

blackboard.

 

It was red with a green stem.

 

"There," said the teacher,

 

"Now you may begin."

 

The little boy looked at the teacher's

 

flower.

 

Then he looked at his own flower.

 

He liked his own flower better than

 

the teacher's.

 

But he did not say this.

 

He just turned his paper over

 

And made a flower like the teacher's.

 

It was red with a green stem.

 

On another day

 

When the little boy had opened

 

The door from the outside all by himself,

 

The teacher said, "Today we are going to

 

Make something with clay."

 

"Good!" thought the little boy.

 

He liked clay.

 

He could make all kinds of things

 

With clay:

 

Snakes and snowmen,

 

Elephants and mice,

 

Cars and trucks.

 

He began to pull and pinch his ball of clay.

 

But the teacher said,

 

"Wait. It is not time to begin."

 

And she waited until everyone looked

 

Ready.

 

"Now," said the teacher,

 

"We are going to make a dish."

 

"Good!" thought the little boy.

 

He liked to make dishes.

 

And he began to make some.

 

They were all shapes and sizes.

 

But the teacher said, "Wait,

 

And I will show you how."

 

And she showed everyone how to make

 

One deep dish.

 

"There," said the teacher,

 

"Now you may begin."

 

The little boy looked at the teacher's

 

dish.

 

Then he looked at his own.

 

He liked his dishes better than the teacher's.

 

But he did not say this.

 

He just rolled his clay into a big ball

 

Again.

 

And made a dish like the teacher's.

 

It was a deep dish.

 

And pretty soon

 

The little boy learned to wait,

 

And to watch,

 

And to make things just like the

 

teacher.

 

And pretty soon

 

He didn't make things of his own

 

Anymore.

 

Then it happened

 

That the little boy and his

 

Family moved to another city,

 

And the little boy had to go

 

To another school.

 

This school was even bigger

 

Than the other one.

 

And there was no door from

 

The outside into his room.

 

He had to up some steps

 

And walk down a long hall

 

To get to his room.

 

And the very first day

 

He was there,

 

The teacher said, "Today,

 

We are going to make a

 

Picture."

 

"Good!" thought the little boy,

 

And he waited for the

 

Teacher to tell him what to

 

Do. But the teacher didn't say

 

Anything.

 

She just walked around the room.

 

When she came to the little

 

Boy, she said, "Don't you want

 

To make a picture?"

 

"Yes," said the little boy.

 

"What are we going to make?"

 

"I don't know until you make

 

It," said the teacher.

 

"How shall I make it? said

 

The little boy.

 

"Why, any way you like," said

 

The teacher.

 

"And any color?" asked the little boy.

 

"Any color," said the teacher.

 

"If everyone makes the same

 

Picture and uses the same

 

Colours, how would I know who

 

Made what and which was which?"

 

"I don't know," said the

 

Little boy.

 

And he began to make a flower.

 

It was red, with a green stem.

[Rea]

Red flower, green stem? I have it but its not a poem, its a story. I'll have to find it and get back soon

[Rea]

Pipped at the post!

[Guest]

Magnificent ! Thank you , thank you x

[Guest]

Magnificent ! Thank you , thank you x

 

I have that poem too from somewhere on this site, but with a more upbeat ending:

 

"If everyone made the same picture,

And used the same colors,

How would I know who made what,

And which was which?"

"I don't know," said the little boy.

And he began to make pink and orange and blue flowers.

 

He liked his new school,

Even if it didn't have a door

Right in from the outside"