Story Reads: 31,808

 

Two little kittens,
One stormy night,
Began to quarrel,
And then to fight.

One had a mouse
And the other had none;
And that was the way
The quarrel begun.

“I’ll have that mouse,”
Said the bigger cat.
“You’ll have that mouse?
We’ll see about that!”

“I will have that mouse,”
Said the tortoise-shell;
And, spitting and scratching,
On her sister she fell.

I’ve told you before
‘Twas a stormy night,
When these two kittens
Began to fight.

The old woman took
The sweeping broom,
And swept them both
Right out of the room.

The ground was covered
With frost and snow,
They had lost the mouse,
And had nowhere to go.

So they lay and shivered
Beside the door,
Till the old woman finished
Sweeping the floor.

And then they crept in
As quiet as mice,
All wet with snow
And as cold as ice.

They found it much better
That stormy night,
To lie by the fire,
Than to quarrel and fight.

POEM FOR KIDS BY Anonymous

Header illustration by budogosh

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

Peace

1. This poem is a good example of how when we fight with others, we often also harm ourselves. Can you think of other ways that fighting with others can lead to our situation being worse?

2. Can you think of some reasons why the kittens might have been fighting in the first place? How else could they have expressed their feelings?