No, this post is not about recipes. You’ll not find “Alligator Pie” in any Canadian cookbook, that’s for sure, but you will find scores of Canadian kids familiar with the poem and book of the same title. Alligator Pie written by Dennis Lee in 1974 (original edition illustrated by Frank Newfeld) is a Canadian poetry classic. Children just love this zany poem’s rhymes.
Alligator pie, alligator pie,
If I don’t get some I think I’m gonna die.
Give away the green grass, give away the sky,
But don’t give away my alligator pie.
Many a child, including my own, has gone to a Lee reading to shout out with glee the end word rhymes to this famous poem. Indeed, Mr. Lee encourages it. “I never realized how soon a child can take part in “doing poems.” A two year old will join in, if you pause at the rhyme-word and let him complete it. Usually it will be the familiar rhyme, but if you’re making up new verses you’ll be surprised what he thinks of. Try starting a verse “Alligator juice … ”
Lee’s intent was to create a book of rhymes for children that departed from the old English nursery rhymes he grew up with. He wanted rhymes for children in the context they lived in as Canadians. But not without being playful, of course! My children love Lee’s wordplay with Canadian place names — for instance, this one on our home town.
Someday I’ll go to Winnipeg
To win a peg-leg pig.
But will a peg-leg winner win
The piglet’s ill got wig?
Is there poetry about your town or the place you live? Is there a way to make word play with its name that will make your kids laugh out loud and think about where they live in a new and lively word-conscious way? Do tell!