: In the 1960’s my grandmother read to her six grandchildren (born in the late ‘50’s), from a beaten up old story book that had no cover. Thus, I suspect it was my father’s and aunt’s book when they were little. They were born in the late 1920’s to 1930. The book was quite thick – nearly two inches, and large, about 9 x 12. I recall it was larger than letter size. The print was about 18 to 24 point, with many colored illustrations, like we see in old books from the early 20th century. The literature was organized by simple nursery rhymes in the front to longer and harder stories and poems at the end of the book. We enjoyed the songs in the book, but there was no music scores, just words. One poem/song was, “Over in the Meadow.” I pasted the words to the specific version that was in the story book. There’s a newer/different version to this poem floating around. In my grandmother’s old story book, this poem covered many pages, because each stanza was illustrated.
In addition, the words to America the Beautiful (Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies) were in the book, with beautiful illustrations. The song was spread out on several pages because of the illustrations. I think there were some Robert Louis Stephenson poems, too. I do not remember some of the longer stories. There was another patriotic song in the book, too, but I do not remember which one. Also, there might have been some hymns like Onward Christian Soldiers, but that might be an incorrect memory.
We loved that book. We would sit on my grandmother’s lap in the big rocking chair, an Abe Lincoln rocking chair, and she would read and sing to us for hours.
Here are the words to Over in the Meadow that was in that old story and song book. I would love to buy this book, in any condition, if you can identify it.
Over in the meadow
In the sand in the sun,
lived an old mother turtle
and her little turtle one.
“Dig,” said the mother,
“I dig,” said the one,
and they dug all day
in the sand in the sun.
Over in the meadow
where the stream runs blue,
lived an old mother fish
and her little fishies two.
“Swim,” said the mother,
“We swim,” said the two,
and they swam all day
where the stream runs blue.
Over in the meadow
in a hole in the tree,
Lived an old mother owl
and her little owls three.
“Whoo,” said the mother,
“We whoo,” said the three,
and they whooed all day
in the hole in the tree.
Over in the meadow
by the old barn door,
Lived an old mother rat
and her little ratties four.
“Gnaw,” said the mother,
“We gnaw,” said the four,
and they gnawed all day
on by the old barn door.
Over in the meadow
in a snug beehive,
Lived an old mother bee
and her little bees five.
“Buzz,” said the mother,
“We buzz,” said the five,
and they buzzed all day
in the snug beehive.
Over in the meadow
in a nest built of sticks,
Lived an old mother crow
and her little crows six.
“Caw,” said the mother,
“We caw,” said the six,
and they cawed all day
in the nest built of sticks.
Over in the meadow
where the grass grows so even,
Lived an old mother frog
and her little froggies seven.
“Jump,” said the mother,
“We jump,” said the seven,
and they jumped all day
where the grass grows so even.
Over in the meadow
by the old mossy gate,
Lived an old mother lizard
and her little lizards eight.
“Bask,” said the mother,
“We bask,” said the eight,
and they basked all day
by the old mossy gate.
Over in the meadow
by the old scotch pine,
Lived an old mother duck
and her little duckies nine.
“Quack,” said the mother,
“We quack,” said the nine,
and they quacked all day
by the old scotch pine.
Over in the meadow
in a cozy, wee den,
Lived an old mother beaver
and her little beavers ten.
“Beave,” said the mother,
“We beave,” said the ten,
and they beaved all day
in their cozy, wee den.
