Close your eyes, and go back to bed,
I know you’ll rise and shine when morning comes again.
One last story then you rest your sleepy head,
Close your eyes and go back to bed.

When I was young, just about your age,
We travelled north to where it’s winter every day.
All roads end somewhere so we walked most of the way,
And met some kind stranger on the eve before Christmas day.

He smiled behind a beard white and offered us a ride,
Back to his home where he said we could spend the night.
With a gentle lift his sleigh had taken flight,
Drawn by reindeer through that northern evening sky.

There in a clearing was a house all strung with lights.
We landed softly and he welcomed us inside.
He headed for his workshop as we warmed up by the fire.
He said, “I hope that you’ll excuse me, but at dusk I’ve got to fly.”

I woke up on Christmas morning a little bit confused.
I must’ve slept the whole way home and been carried to my room.
I know you’re thinking “how could all of that be true?”
My parents said, “This card is signed to you,
And who it’s from we haven’t got a clue.”
But there inside, was just one line and as I read my eyes grew wide
It said, “it was a pleasure meeting all of you.”

Close your eyes, and go back to bed.
I know you’ll rise and shine when morning comes again.
One last story then you rest your sleepy head.
Close your eyes and go back to bed.

© David Stone 2020

Poem for Kids / Song for Kids, written by David Stone

Illustrations by Rawpixel, with thanks.

LET’S CHAT ABOUT THE POEM ~ IDEAS FOR TALKING WITH KIDS

Imagination, Independent Thinking

1. Do you think the child in this song really did see Santa Claus? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think people like to tell stories about Santa Claus at Christmas time?

Conversation

1. How do stories about Santa Claus make you feel? What kinds of things do they make you think about?

About the Singer / Songwriter

“David Stone’s songs are carefully written and could easily stand alone as poetry. The fact that he can accompany them with strong melodies that lend themselves to sing-alongs, a voice just this side of gravelly, and delicate guitar work when the occasion calls for it makes Stone a quadruple-threat.” – Rachel Cholst.

David has been writing and releasing music for a little over a decade, with nearly a dozen solo releases to date.

As someone who loves telling stories, much of Stone’s work begins as poetry or short stories, almost always inspired by real people and events.
The line between poem, story and song are blurry at best for David, who’s always found music to be a beautiful and universal conveyer of stories and emotions between friends, and strangers alike.

You can listen to more of his work at http://www.DavidStoneMusic.ca

The post Close Your Eyes first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

And can’t tell where to find them;

Leave them alone, and they’ll come home,

Wagging their tails behind them.

Little Bo-peep fell fast asleep,

And dreamt she heard them bleating;

But when she awoke, she found it a joke,

For they were still a-fleeting.

Then up she took her little crook,

Determin’d for to find them;

She found them indeed, but it made her heart bleed,

For they’d left all their tails behind ’em.

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The post Little Bo Peep first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Polly put the kettle on,

Polly put the kettle on,

And let’s drink tea.

Sukey take it off again,

Sukey take it off again,

Sukey take it off again,

They’re all gone away.

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

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Buckle my shoe;

Three, four,

Shut the door;

Five, six,

Pick up sticks;

Seven, eight,

Lay them straight;

Nine, ten,

A good fat hen;

Eleven, twelve,

Who will delve?

Thirteen, fourteen,

Maids a-courting;

Fifteen, sixteen,

Maids a-kissing;

Seventeen, eighteen,

Maid a-waiting;

Nineteen, twenty,

My stomach’s empty.

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

The post One, Two, Buckle My Shoe first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

Eating a Christmas pie;

He put in his thumb, and he pulled out a plum,

And said, “What a good boy am I!”

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The post Little Jack Horner first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

How does your garden grow?

With cockle-shells, and silver bells,

And pretty maids all a row.

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

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Going to the fair;

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

“Let me taste your ware.”

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,

“Show me first your penny.”

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

“Indeed I have not any.”

Simple Simon went a-fishing

For to catch a whale:

All the water he had got

Was in his mother’s pail!

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

The post Simple Simon first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

The post There Was a Crooked Man first appeared on Bedtime Stories.

A pocket full of rye;

Four and twenty blackbirds

Baked in a pie;

When the pie was open’d,

The birds began to sing;

Now wasn’t that a dainty dish,

To set before the king?

The king was in his counting-house

Counting out his money;

The queen was in the parlour

Eating bread and honey;

The maid was in the garden

Hanging out the clothes,

When down came a blackbird,

And pecked off her nose.

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Illustrations by Sabrina Cristina.

The post Sing A Song of Sixpence first appeared on Bedtime Stories.