Nursery Rhymes:

Are They Appropriate For Children?

We find it hard to believe that other people’s thoughts

What sort of nonsense have we been teaching our children under the guise of nursery rhymes and fairy tales? Granted, some of these little verses seem innocent enough such as “Jack and Jill,” “Humpty Dumpty,” and “Little Miss Muffet.” Not so, however, if we delve further.

Let us consider the fictional adventure of Jack and Jill. If you recall, they climbed up a hill to get some water but then got to messing around and Jack fell down. When he landed at the bottom of the hill he broke his crown. (Up to that moment we had no inkling that he was royalty.) Jill laughed so hard she lost her balance and tumbled down right after him. And while we’re talking about clumsy— how about Humpty Dumpty? He fell right off a wall and hurt himself so badly that nobody could fix him up. He probably walked with a limp after that. Miss Muffet, on the other hand, was such a wimp that she let a little spider frighten her away from her milk and cheese dinner.

We really know very little of the history behind these three nursery rhymes. Why did Jack and Jill go up that hill in the first place — to get a pail of water? Uh uh. I don’t think so. Water wells are usually found in low places rather than at the top of a hill. Were they being punished for some reason? Perhaps they were caught playing games when they should have been cleaning their rooms. Apparently they were quite irresponsible as are most young children when it comes to doing their chores. This is further borne out by the subsequent fact that they were lollygagging on their way up that hill which caused Jack to stumble and tumble all the way back down. Jill, instead of feeling sorry for him found the scene so amusing that she rolled on the ground in laughter and couldn’t stop until she landed in a heap on top of poor Jack who was still lying there moaning and groaning.

We may assume that it was poor old Humpty’s obesity that made it necessary for him to sit rather than stand on that wall, but why did he get up there at all? It could be because there was a parade going by and he wanted to get a better look. That’s probably why all the king’s horses and all the king’s men were so quick to come to his aid. They were passing right in front of him. How could they miss him?

Miss Muffet had a different problem. There she was sitting on a tuffet instead of at the dining table like a normal little girl. She dipped her spoon into her curds and whey and out of the corner of her eye, noticed a spider amble up beside her quietly minding its own business. She let out a banshee scream that would cud your hair and tossed her bowl in the air, jumping to her feet and pulling her skirt tightly about herself before skittering off to hide her face in seclusion. We know that girls are frightened of spiders and snakes but there’s such a thing as carrying this drama thing too far. Judging from her reaction, that spider must have been huge and hairy.

Independent observers have noted more than a few instances of violence fostered by Mother Goose along with the Grimm brothers and other authors of their century. One cannot help but wonder how many modern parents would tell their children bedtime stories involving the tails of small animals being chopped off by a butcher’s knife as in Three Blind Mice, or the gory details of an innocent murder victim as related in Who Killed Cock Robin?

Remember Jack, so nimble and quick that he jumped over a candlestick? It was a silly thing to do in the first place but why was he urged to do such a thing? It is common knowledge that candles often appear in séances and other occult proceedings so is there an undercurrent of dark satanic mystery here? Old storytellers describe how poison apples were generally used for ridding oneself of unwanted children as in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and let’s not even think about how the wicked witch intended to do away with Hansel and Gretel.

In a story about a little gingerbread man, a little old woman and a little old man (bear with me here) lived alone in a little old house. They hadn’t any children so one day the little old woman made a boy out of gingerbread. She made him a chocolate jacket with cinnamon seeds for buttons. His eyes were made of fat currants and his mouth of rose-colored sugar. When the old woman rolled him out and dressed him up, she pinched the gingerbread shoes into shape, put him in a pan, the pan in the oven and shut the door. “Now,” she said, “I shall have a little boy of my own.” Well, guess what! When she opened the oven door and pulled out the pan, out jumped the little gingerbread boy onto the floor and away he ran with the little old woman and the little old man in hot pursuit. Now what kind of story is that to tell little children? It’s no wonder the gingerbread boy ran away. He had already been through a horrible ordeal and wanted nothing more to do with people like that.

Witches, ghouls, trolls, and hobgoblins abound in fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Were these storytellers preoccupied with the task of scaring young children and if so, why? Perhaps to make them behave such as in the goblins will get you if you don't watch out?

Yet, in spite of the scary passages of many old time grim and ghastly writings, these tales are still to be found in homes and libraries where children avidly devour them like sugar candies. Recent interviews of several young boys and girls selected at random offer the following explanations regarding nursery tales.

“They give me a tingly feeling.”

“The scary parts are best.”

“They’re more fun than icky kissy stories.”

“It’s make-believe. Get real, dude!”

That last comment presents a real solid hope that all is still right with the youngsters of the world and old fuddy-duddies who want to get rid of nursery rhymes and fairy tales should just butt out.