Poetry Friday.
On this Friday, to salute chatter that I love and silence that I crave, in memory of my childhood, in memory of my brothers, I share “Little Charlie Chipmunk”– the lines of which I can still recite.
Little Charlie Chipmunk
Little Charlie Chipmunk was a talker. Mercy me!
He chattered after breakfast and he chattered after tea!
He chattered to his father and he chattered to his mother!
He chattered to his sister and he chattered to his brother!
He chattered till his family was almost driven wild.
Oh, little Charlie Chipmunk was a very tiresome child.
–Helen Cowles LeCron
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* The back story to my poem and author selection.
In a February Slice of Life post, Deb Frazier wrote,
“I am embracing quiet time, maybe even seeking silent minutes. The silence gives me a chance to reflect on my thoughts. In my silence I find my ideas, new and old seem to find a space to settle in and breathe.”
I commented on Deb’s blog post: “After a long day of teaching, I crave a time of silence. It’s like elevating my feet after I’ve stood all day. On the other hand, I have always been capable of ‘endless chatter.'”
I copied Deb’s words and my comment into my journal along with the children’s verse “Little Charlie Chipmunk.” I read that journal entry this week and pondered the rise and fall of silence and chatter in my daily life.
Most of my days are filled with people, listening and thinking and talking. By the end of a work day, I’m often on voice overload — especially after a day presenting professional development. At such times, I crave silence. I embrace silence. Like a glass of crushed ice when temperatures push to the triple digits. Like a warm shower after three days in an Asian jungle refugee camp.
On the other hand, my brothers have reminded me on occasion that there was a time when I was a kid that my folks thought my jaw was unhinged. There was no silence if I was in the room. In that time, my older brothers nicknamed me Charlie Chipmunk after the chattering chipmunk immortalized in the children’s verse they’d memorized at school.
{Lest you worry that such teasing suffered me harm, I pause to tell you that it did not. I thought chipmunks were the cutest, much cuter than squirrels. And talking was pure pleasure for me. Ah, you say, we can tell that . . . because we see the chatter from your keyboard upon this page. Smiles.}
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* About “Little Charlie Chipmunk”
“Little Charlie Chipmunk” is one of a series of etiquette poems about naughty creatures who are examples of how not to behave. The poems, authored by Helen Cowles LeCron, were originally published in 1926. Dover Publications reprinted the book, Animal Etiquette, in 2014.
Each animal character cleverly matches its “undesirable” behavior. The poems have been used for memory work and included in readers in schools in by-gone-years.
Let me introduce a few of the twenty-four characters with a couple lines from each one’s poem.
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* Books by Helen Crowles LeCron
As I prepared this post, I wondered if HCL had written any other books.
- I turned immediately to Google. {Isn’t internet searching wonderful?}
- I discovered she had co-authored several cookbooks. {Imagine!}
- I dug into the Gutenberg files and found a copy of one titled A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband. {Hm, interesting title for a cookbook, right?}
- Turns out that it is a cookbook novel. {Is there such a genre?}
- For the past two days, I’ve been skimming the book, finding entertainment in the story and in the recipes. {In a March post, I wrote: “I must confess that I read cookbooks for pleasure, much like some people read poetry.” }
- Bettina’s story is a surreal cooking story of a 1920s bride. {Makes me think of the surrealism of “Leave it to Beaver” from the late1950s.}
And for all my teacher friends, in Chapter LXXXVI, Bettina prepares a luncheon for the teachers. Here’s what she served for dessert. {Yummy! And I learned some things about a genuine sponge cake.}
Sadie Stien (in a 2012 post in the Paris Review) gives an interesting look at the book and shares copies of some illustrations.
A Gutenberg copy of A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband can be downloaded. I put one in my iBooks file. It has an Index of recipes, begins on page 890, that has active links to pages, making it easy to find and navigate to specific recipes. {Nice feature!}
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* About Helen Crowles LeCron (1886 – 1963)
Helen was the oldest of six children, born to Gardner Cowles Sr. and Florence Call Cowles in 1886. Although I didn’t find much about her, I did find some interesting information about the Cowles family. Read more about them– Drake University, Cowles Library.
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the Poetry Friday Roundup today.
Join us there! Thank you, Jama!
Poetry Friday Schedule: 2017 January – June.
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Alice, there is so much to love about this post! Silence (and a cup of tea) is the perfect way to end a busy day. I’ve known a few Charlie Chipmunk’s in my day, but I wasn’t familiar with Helen LeCron or Animal Etiquette. There is a sub-genre of murder mysteries that involve chefs and/or caterers that include recipes. My mother-in-law used to love Diane Mott Davidson. Her favorite was Dying for Chocolate.
Alice, I think what Brenda said about the etiquette poems is so right on target-trying not to criticize but remind children of manners is so important. Your post is delightful-filled with so many avenues to explore. I like the cooking information from the past. I have never made sponge cake and was intrigued that it does not have baking powder or baking soda in it. Have a great day.
This is a post that just keeps on giving, from love of silence to the chemistry of sponge cakes! And CHIPMUNKS! Cutest rodents ever.
Oh, I love the teacher in you…..I get your back story and your reflection and your need for silence. I applaud the poet in you that wrote …. “the rise and fall of silence and chatter “. That’s you in the middle of all that you see and reflect upon. That’s the diving board line. It’s wonderful.
Alice — I’ve just completed a mindfulness course with my teaching team and it got me thinking about how many times during the day I am in absolute silent surroundings. Almost never! “Chatter” from humans — in person, on the radio, on the television — takes up far too much time of the day, doesn’t it? I long for moments with just the chattering of just little Charlie Chipmunk. Thank you for sharing these delightful riddles from the past.
I’ve been intentionally quiet and seeking quiet the last few months, especially after a long day of teaching noisy twelve year olds! Love this post!
Wow! What a neat backstory, Alice. It must have been fun following this little chipmunk down the hole and finding all this interesting info. about the author!
What an interesting post! Love the Charlie Chipmunk poem and your charming backstory, and learning about Helen LeCron (totally new to me). Her cookbook novel does sound intriguing. The only book I can think of from the top of my head that would fit this genre is Like Water for Chocolate, though with the popularity of pairing recipes with literary forms there are probably many others out there (I hope to eat my way through some of them sometime). 🙂
P.S. Our resident Chipmunk, Chippy, sends his regards.
I have always gravitated toward silence, but Little Charlie Chipmunk describes my daughter in her early years. While she managed to keep quiet in class, she was ready to verbally explode the rest of the day. Now we can enjoy either chatting or silence together.
Lucky teachers to have been served that for dessert! The little lessons remind me of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle stories. How I loved those when I was a kid!
Hmmmm….I think that chipmunk poem might have been written about my childhood…apparently my parents would sort of zone out as I prattled on endlessly, only to be jolted back to reality every once in a while when the chattering paused, and they would see me looking at them intently, and realize that I’d asked a question and was waiting for a response! 😉
Alice, what a wealth of information. I get overloaded by hearing/reading too much and need some silence. Just to process and absorb what I’ve heard/learned. Not to mention to maintain my sanity and identity. 🙂 I love how delicately those poems were trying to teach without criticizing the child. The contradictory advice is amusing — don’t be too slow. Or too fast. Or too careless. And bring me a cocktail!