I hope everyone ate their Wheaties this morning because it’s time for the Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Challenge Week #2!!!
Mix ‘n’ Match Mini is a writing challenge for anyone who needs a little boost or a little encouragement to get writing. . . or maybe just a little fun during this bizarre stay-at-home spring!
You get to write your own story, enjoy and be entertained by everyone else’s stories, and get yourself in the running for some awesome prizes (please see the end of the blog post for a list of all the prize goodies!)
For a full description of the challenge or to enter your Week #1 entry, please go HERE
Let’s jump into Week #2!
Mix ‘n’ Match Mini Writing Prompt #2 for Week of May 18:
Last week we played with characters, setting, and emotion, or a combination, depending on where your eenie meenie miney moe-ing landed you. 😊 This week we’re going to play with Point of View!
Eenie meenie miney moe, choose a Nursery Rhyme below. . . and rewrite its story (for kids) in 100 words from the point of view of someone or something else mentioned in (or conceivably associated with) the rhyme. For example, if you choose Humpty Dumpty from the list, you can write the story of that famous tumbling egg incident from the point of view of the wall, or one of the king’s horses, or one of the king’s men, or a tree hanging over the wall watching the drama unfold, or the grass underneath that got landed on, or the chicken that laid Humpty Dumpty to begin with, or anything else you dream up! Post your story in the comment section below to get your Week #2 entry in!
- Stories can rhyme or not – totally up to you!
- You can go under or over 100 words if you want to – also totally up to you! – 100 is a guideline
- If you’re deeply inspired by another Nursery Rhyme that is not on the list below you can use that instead – as long as you rewrite a nursery rhyme from a different point of view from the original – the purpose here is inspiration and to get you writing!
- For simplicity’s sake (and to aid skimming readers who might be interested in a particular thing) please say which rhyme and what point of view you’re using at the top of your entry along with your word count.
Choose a rhyme: (rhymes included for your convenience in remembering the words 😊)
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men,
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock.
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse ran up the clock
The clock struck two
The mouse went “boo!”
Hickory dickory dock.
Three… the mouse went weeee
Four…The mouse went “no more!”
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are,
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky, twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Jack And Jill
Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.
Up Jack got, and home did trot,
As fast as he could caper,
He went to bed to mend his head,
With vinegar and brown paper
There Was A Crooked Man
There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
and they all lived together in a little crooked house.
Here’s a little sample 😊
Week #2: Humpty Dumpty, POV of lawn beneath the wall (199 words)
Rock Til You Drop
Okay, so technically? It might be that Humpty Dumpty didn’t exactly fall off that wall.
It was the night of the Rock ‘Til You Drop Dance Contest, and that egg head was taunting me.
“I’m going to win!” he boasted. “You can’t rock and you can’t roll!”
He showed off his moves, rocking and rolling on his round behind.
I was green with envy. But I wouldn’t let him mow me down.
“I may be lawn,” I shouted back, “but I can sway to the beat better than you!”
I showed off my moves. Swish! Swoosh!
Then I laid it down. “Besides, I’m taller than you. No one will even see you!”
I watched him boil. He knew I was right.
“Unless. . .” I said slyly, “you get up on that wall. . .”
Humpty enlisted one of the king’s horses to help him up. He teetered on top. “Just watch me shake my booty!” he gloated.
The beat boomed.
“Shake-shake-shake!” I dared him.
Humpty shook.
But the wall was narrow.
Too narrow for that big-bottomed-boy!
Rock…
…roll…
BLAM!
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!
I won!
I had egg on my face, but it was worth it!
So come join the fun! Get some writing done! Encourage your kids (or students) to give it a try! Or just have a good time together reading what other folks have written!
Ready, set, WRITE! 😊
(And remember, for full details on the 7 week challenge you can check HERE)
Check out the Week #2 stories!
The Water’s Tale – Jess Murray (Jack & Jill, water’s POV)
The Moon Above The World So High – Candice Marley Conner (Twinkle Twinkle, moon’s POV)
I Am Not Afraid – Genevieve Petrillo (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Little Miss Muffet’s POV)
Jack And Jill Continued… – Colleen Owen Murphy (Jack & Jill, Jill’s POV)
No Running In My House! – Elizabeth Meyer Zu Heringdorf (Hickory Dickory, clock’s POV)
Twinkle Twinkle Neon Light – Corine Timmer (Twinkle Twinkle, star POV)
Little Miss Muffet – Susan Inez (Little Miss Muffet)
Children, Children – Rose Cappelli (Twinkle Twinkle, star POV)
Star’s Reply – Sue Lancaster (Twinkle Twinkle, star POV)
Not Again! – Dot Anson (Hey Diddle Diddle, moon’s POV)
The Clock Snaps – Sara Ackerman (Hickory Dickory, clock’s POV)
Cutie Lamb – Jamie Bechtelheimer (Mary Had A Little Lamb, lamb’s POV)
A Little Crooked Smile – Brittany Pomales (There Was A Crooked Man, house’s POV)
Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bear – Brenda Whitehead (Twinkle Twinkle, star POV)
Who’s To Blame? – Sue Lancaster (Jack & Jill, multiple POVs)
Teacher Had A Long School Day – Amy Flynn (Mary Had A Little Lamb, teacher’s POV)
The Clock – Linda Schueler (Hickory Dickory, clock’s POV)
There Was A Crooked Man – Barbara Renner (There Was A Crooked Man, cat’s POV)
Baa Baa Black Sheep – Shariffa Keshavjee (Baa Baa Black Sheep)
The Wall And The Fall – Michelle S. Kennedy (Humpty Dumpty, wall’s POV)
Look! A Crook! – Jill Lambert (There Was A Crooked Man, stile’s POV)
Hickory Dickory Dock – Susan Schipper (Hickory Dickory, mouse during quarantine POV)
Jack Sprat – Leslie Denkers (Jack Sprat, dog’s POV)
Humpty Dumpty – Anne Cavanaugh Sawan (Humpty Dumpty, mother’s POV)
Lenny The Lamb – Ashley Congdon (Mary Had A Little Lamb, lamb’s POV)
Hickory Dickory Dock – Kristy Nuttall (Hickory Dickory, clock’s POV)
Jack Is Still At It – Boyll(Jack Be Nimble, narrator’s POV)
Vinegar’s View – Deb Sullivan (Jack And Jill, vinegar’s POV)
Pail’s Tale – Patricia Nozell (Jack And Jill, pail’s POV)
Jack And Jill (And Jen) Go Up The Hill Again – Sarah Meade (Jack And Jill, big sister’s POV)
That Icky Spider – Linda Staszak (Itsy Bitsy Spider, house’s POV)
Do You See Me – Michelle S. Kennedy (Twinkle Twinkle, star’s POV)
Trying Something New – Dawn Young (Itsy Bitsy Spider)
Raindrops – Shariffa Keshavjee (Raindrops)
The Unbreakable – Jarmila (Humpty Dumpty, king’s horse POV)
Old King Cole: A Limerick – Marty (Old King Cole, fiddler’s POV)
Yes, You Can – Rebecca Gardyn Levington (Twinkle Twinkle, star’s POV)
Hickory Dickory Dock – Matthew Lasley (Hickory Dickory, cat’s POV)
Operation: Find Little Bo Peep – Di Litwer (Little Bo Peep, sheep detective’s POV)
Baa Baa Black Sheep – Susan Krevat (Baa Baa Black Sheep, little boy down the lane’s POV)
Hickory Dickory Dock – Everard Anson (Hickory Dickory, clock’s POV)
There Was A Crooked Man – Liz Kehrli (There Was A Crooked Man, crow’s POV)
Hey Diddle Diddle – Beverly Baird (Hey Diddle Diddle, moon’s POV)
Our Friend Humpty – Mia Geiger (Humpty Dumpty)
Miss Mary Mack – Mary Van Beuren (Miss Mary Mack, elephant’s POV)
Spout Off – Deb Buschman (Itsy Bitsy Spider, water spout’s POV)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bear – Lori Himmel (Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bear (ursa minor)’s POV)
Jack & Jill – Ketan Ram (Jack & Jill, hill’s POV)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Ketan Ram (Twinkle Twinkle, moon’s POV)
Cock-a-doodle Doo, My Dame Has Lost Her Shoe – Ketan & Ravi Ram (Cock-a-doodle Doo, fiddle bow’s POV)
Little Bo Peep – Tracy (Little Bo Peep)
Jack And Jill – Kay DiVerde (Jack & Jill, Jill’s POV)
Twinkle Twinkle Little Firefly – Lily Erlic (Twinkle Twinkle, firefly’s POV)
Sing A Song of Sixpence – Penny Adler (Sing A Song O’ Sixpence, king’s POV)
Untitled – Alicia Meyers Kelly (Hickory Dickory Dock)
Untitled – Katie Schwartz (There Was A Crooked Man, house’s POV)
Untitled – Ugo Anidi (Jack and Jill, hill’s POV)
PRIZES & PRIZES OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES!
When it comes time for prizes, names of all those who completed the challenge will be drawn randomly and matched with prizes drawn randomly until we run out! 😊
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazone, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, suggesting them for school visits, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊
For Spacious Skies by Nancy Churnin, award-winning author of so many fabulous books I don’t have space to list them all! Visit her website or Amazon Page!
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Kirstine Erekson Call, author of THE RAINDROP WHO COULDN’T FALL (Character Publishing 2013) and the forthcoming MOOTILDA’S BAD MOOD (Little Bee Books, September 2020), COW SAYS MEOW (HMH March 2021), and COLD TURKEY (Little Brown Spring 2021)
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Ellen Leventhal, author of DON’T EAT THE BLUEBONNETS (Spork 2017), HAYFEST: A Holiday Quest (ABCs Press 2010), and LOLA CAN’T LEAP (Spork 2018)
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Lindsay Hanson Metcalf, author of BEATRIX POTTER, SCIENTIST (September 2020), FARMERS UNITE!: PLANTING A PROTEST FOR FAIR PRICES (Calkins Creek November 2020), and NO VOICE TOO SMALL: FOURTEEN YOUNG AMERICANS MAKING HISTORY (Charlesbridge September 2020)
Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non rhyming) from Kaye Baillie, author of BOO LOVES BOOKS (New Frontier Publishing October 2020), and MESSAGE IN A SOCK (Midnight Sun Publishing 2018)
Your choice of EITHER a Picture Book Manuscript Critique or a Virtual Visit with Keila Dawson, author of THE KING CAKE BABY (Pelican 2015), and NO VOICE TOO SMALL: FOURTEEN YOUNG AMERICANS MAKING HISTORY (Charlesbridge September 2020)
Winner’s Choice of Webinar from the amazing Alayne Kay Christian, author of picture books Butterfly Kisses, An Old Man And His Penguin, and the forthcoming The Weed That Woke Christmas and the chapter book series of Sienna The Cowgirl Fairy, and editor at Blue Whale Press! Webinar choices include: How A Picture Book Is Made, Perfecting Your Critique, Top Ten Reasons For Rejection, and How To Write Powerful First Pages Like A Pro!
15 Minute Video Chat – ask your questions about writing, research, submissions – whatever’s on your mind! – with Christy Mihaly, author of DIET FOR A CHANGING PLANET: Food for Thought(Twenty-first Century Books/Lerner 2018), HEY, HEY, HAY!
A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them (Holiday House 2018) , and FREE FOR YOU AND ME: What Our First Amendment Means (Albert Whitman March 2020)
Quick Impressions on your Picture Book Manuscript from Rosie Pova, author of IF I WEREN’T WITH YOU (Spork 2017), SARAH’S SONG (Spork 2017), the forthcoming SUNDAY RAIN (Lantana Publishing March 2021) and others.
RONAN THE LIBRARIAN, (Roaring Brook Press April 2020) brand new fromfabulous author Tara Luebbe
Your Choice of EITHER A Picture Book Manuscript Critique (fiction, non-rhyming) or an Ask Anything 15 Minute Video or Phone Chat with Tara Luebbe, author of SHARK NATE-O,(Little Bee Books 2018), I AM FAMOUS ( Albert Whitman 2018), I USED TO BE FAMOUS (Albert Whitman 2019), OPERATION PHOTOBOMB (Albert Whitman 2019), and RONAN THE LIBRARIAN (Roaring Brook Press 2020) (see above)
Sherry Howard, author of Rock And Roll Woods (Spork 2018) and a series of Nonfiction Middle Grade titles for Escape Publishing (2019)
is offering 6 of her nonfiction middle grade titles which will go to 6 lucky winners!
Ann Whitford Paul, author of Writing Picture Books (being donated by Becky Scharnhorst below), the book we ALL use as our picture book bible 😊, and countless wonderful picture books, is offering signed copies of her IF ANIMALS… Series (Farrar Straus Giroux):
If Animals Went To School (2019) If Animals Kissed Good Night (2008)
If Animals Said I Love You (2017) If Animals Celebrated Christmas (2018)
If you would like to benefit from her picture book wisdom, please sign up for her newsletter HERE!
A hand lettered quote of someone’s choice from a picture book, or a quote about reading or writing that could be framed as a gift for a child’s bedroom, a writer you know and love, or an inspiration for writing in your own work space (why shouldn’t you give yourself a present?!) offered by Kristy Roser Nuttall! (Samples below – you can choose your own quote!)
Making Picture Book Magic – Self Study Class any month (x3)
Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul, donated by Becky Scharnhorst whose debut picture book P.S. Camp Wildwood Stinks will be released in Summer 2021 from Philomel!
![Writing Picture Books Revised and Expanded Edition: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication by [Ann Whitford Paul]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rbO+CMLNL.jpg)
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert donated by Becky Scharnhorst whose debut picture book P.S. Camp Wildwood Stinks will be released in Summer 2021 from Philomel!
The Nuts & Bolts Guide To Writing Picture Books by Linda Ashman (only available for Kindle) (x2)
![The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books by [Linda Ashman]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51JTh6P3L1L.jpg)
Magnetic Poetry – Little Box of Happiness
The Story Book Knight by Helen Docherty
This Book Is Gray by Lindsay Ward
Writing Journal (x10)
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Susanna Leonard Hill 
I did Itsy Bitsy Spider- Water Spout POV
89 words
SPOUT OFF
By Deb Buschman
Oh boy, here comes that silly spider.
“Itsy Bitsy, what are you doing?” asked Water Spout.
“Climbing,” said Itsy.
“Why?” said Spout.
“To get to the top.”
“Look it’s gonna rain. Go home.”
“But then I won’t get washed out.”
“You like that?”
“It’s fun!” said Itsy. “Don’t you like me climbing you?”
“It kinda tickles.”
Isty latched his eight legs onto Spout.
“Tee-hee! Tee-hee! Quick, go up Itsy!”
Itsy scrambled up. Crash! Boom! A monsoon.
Wheeeeeee! “Thanks Spout!”
“See you later, silly spider when the sun comes out.”
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bear [Little Bear’s (Ursa Minor) POV]
By Lori Himmel
142 words
Twinkle, twinkle!
I’m Little Bear, or to be more precise, Ursa Minor.
And some call me the Little Dipper.
I live in the sky next to my mom.
She has many names too: Big Bear, Ursa Major, or the Big Dipper.
She watches over for me.
This winter I was almost hunted by Orion, so we ran to the middle of the sky and hunkered down. Safe and sound.
I love my sky. Star friends twinkle hello everyday.
I can also see the Earth twinkle, twinkle lots of lights.
Many lights in many places. Mom says those are cities.
I shine as brightly as I can, squeezing the light down for all to see.
But the Great Haze rests above Earth.
I hope people can still see me, twinkling up here.
“Twinkle, twinkle Little Bear,” my mom always says.
So I do.
POSTED FOR KETAN
Jack and Jill Mix ‘n Match Week #2
by Ketan Ram
(POV the Hill) – A Double Haiku – word count 30
Jack and Jill their names.
From where do they come, these imps?
Taking from my well.
They trample my grass.
Their din disturbs my quiet.
My source is now dry.
POSTED FOR KETAN
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Mix ‘n Match Week #2
by Ketan Ram
(POV the Moon) Haiku – word count 12
Twinkling star afar
I’m bigger, bolder, closer
Let them sing ’bout me.
POSTED FOR KETAN & RAVI
Cock a Doodle Doo, My Dame Has Lost Her Shoe Mix ‘n Match Week #2
by Ketan & Ravi Ram
(POV the Fiddle’s Bow) – word count 34
There once was a man with a fiddle.
And with me, the bow, he would twiddle.
His melody so poor,
Dame fled shoeless out the door.
As for me, I hid under the griddle.
Little Bo Peep- Tracy
Little Bo Peep, I’m one of your sheep
and I really don’t know where to find you.
Don’t leave me alone-please, come lead me home.
I’ll be jumping for joy right beside you!
Little Bo Beep, I just cannot sleep.
I wandered away and then night fell.
Please don’t give up-I beg you to look
for MONSTERS out here do dwell.
Little Bo Peep, the ground’s dark and steep,
but I think through the gloom I can hear you!
I’ve had such a fright but you came out at night
to find me and may I say – THANK YOU!
POSTED FOR KAY
Jack and Jill from Jill’s Point of View
by Kay DiVerde
You may have heard a rumor that I tripped Jack while we were heading down the hill to fetch a pail of water. That’s not true! Here’s what really happened.
Ma summoned us to get some water. My brother Jack is such a show off. He grabbed the pail and rushed out the door. I hurried after him. While ambling down the hill, Jack swung the pail trying to hit me.
“Stop it, Jack,” I warned him. “You’re going to hurt me.”
Did Jack listen? No way. He kept flinging the pail around. Unexpectedly, the pail knocked the crown off his head. The crown broke into pieces. He broke the pail on the ground. Knowing he would be in trouble, he dropped to the ground, knocking me over. We both rolled down to the bottom of the hill, where Jack crashed into a tree.
With blood running down his cheek and legs, he quickly returned home. He told Ma I tripped him, breaking his crown and pail, and pushed him down the hill to crash into a tree. Ma believed him. She bandaged him up and sent him right to bed.
I got a whipping for tripping Jack. His cuts and bruises were his penalty for goofing around!
Twinkle Twinkle Little Firefly (point of view from a firefly)
Firefly watched twinkle little Star in the night sky. Why does everyone sing the star’s
song?
I’d rather hear “Twinkle Twinkle Little Firefly!” So firefly decided to travel to Star to
ask.
On her way she met a bird flying south. Firefly ask the Bird what
he thought.
“I think it’s because Star twinkles.”
On the way, she asked Moon.
“I think it’s because Star shines brightly.”
Then she asked a smaller star.
“Twinkle works hard to shine brighter every day.”
Finally, Firefly reached Twinkle.
Firefly saw how glorious Star was and realized Star deserved her own song.
Penny A
WC: 95
Nursery Rhyme: Sing a Song of Sixpence … as the king saw it
It looks like I’ll be going without supper again.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it when the cook gets creative. I never knew I liked Crispy Nightcrawler Salad. And bravo when she substituted fish eyeballs in the fruit salad when we ran out of grapes.
I cheered too when the birds flew out of the pie singing “The wings on the plane go Flap, Flap, Flap. Flap, Flap, Flap. The wings on the plane go Flap, Flap, Flap. All through the night.”
And with that, my supper flew right out the window. But not before they went “splat!”
Rhyme:Hickory Dickory Dock
Word Count:144
Hickory Dickory was a clock.
Old and tall, he chimed every hour.
But, Hickory Dickory was lonely.
At 1:00, he saw a little mouse.
The mouse darted left, right, and ran straight up Hickory!
He chimed loud to say hello, but the mouse ran down, and disappeared.
He was prepared to chime again at 2:00, when the mouse popped out from behind his gears and yelled “BOO!”
Hickory rang with laughter, and the mouse disappeared.
Hickory awaited his 3:00 chime when the mouse appeared above him and slid down his stature. Weeeee! Hickory laughed as his clock hands spun, but alas, the mouse was gone!
Hickory wanted him to come back.
It was 4:00. He went to chime when he heard a little voice say DONG!
He looked down and there was the mouse giggling.
He loved his new friend.
KATIE SCHWARTZ June 20, 2020 at 1:41 am
There was a Crooked Man – POV of the house – 225 words
They built me on a budget, instead of 2 X 4’s,
they used 3 X 7’s. And then put in 40 doors!
So they call me crooked?
Well now just let me say,
the crooked man, without a plan,
he couldn’t run, no steps, not one,
instead he did ballet!
And all his moves were crooked!
He murdered his plies
His pirouettes, 2 or 3 sets,
were looney-tune displays!
The sixpence was so crooked
He curved this way and that . . .
You could mend him, try to spend him
might get a 10 ounce hat!
But first you’d have to scale
The creaky crooked stile
It went so high, into the sky
You’d have to climb a mile!
The cat was not so crooked.
It was just her ears you see
One pointed north, one pointed south,
mew mew mew mew came from her mouth
Her name was Miss Sweet Pea.
When crooked mouse came running
Sweet Peas’ ears stretched straight!
He looked like food, her attitude
“Please pass my dinner plate!”
So I really hardly saw
Field Mouse, he ran so fast!
Crooked or straight, it was his fate
To breathe his very last.
So take it from the house!
My story’s straight and true
The writer’s who we need to ask,
take that scribe of old to task
And thrash her through and through!
I love all the ballet terms in this one, Katie! Great idea to blame the house’s crookedness on the builders…and finally the writer! Well done!
Nicely done Katie, I can tell you had fun with this one. It was fun to read!
Ugo Anidi
130 words
Jack and Jill (POV Hill)
Have you ever wondered how we feel when people walk all over us again and again?”
I bet you haven’t. I bet no one has.
Joggers! Tourists! Nature lovers! Everyone walks on hills just for the fun of it!
Well I’ve had it.
So when Jack and Jill stomped (stomped! they couldn’t even just walk) up the hill with their buckets of water, I smiled. It was payback time.
I rolled a little rock down my neck and tripped Jack. Ha! He fell down and broke his crown and I laughed and laughed and laughed.
It was such fun that I tripped Jill too and she tumbled and tumbled after Jack.
Today was the best day!
Now, maybe you’ll think twice when you’re stepping on me and better don’t stomp!
Some houses become crooked over time as their foundations settle or winter ice pushes up the ground. But this little house was built crooked. The owner hurt his leg when he fell from a sail, and he always had a bit of a limp. So he built the house a little crooked to relieve the pain on his hip. The crooked house hoped for a family with little children, but living in a crooked house wasn’t for everyone. The man never brought home a wife, but he did bring home a crooked cat. The cat caught a mouse one day, injuring his back paw. The mouse was doomed to be a crooked part of this strange crooked family.
(“There was a crooked man’/ 304 words/ Point of view, the mouse)
Winter was coming, and mouse needed a new house.
He had been staying with Peter Peter’s wife in her pumpkin shell. But now the pumpkin seeds were gone, the rind was getting moist and damp, and Peter Peter had decided to move his new wife into a giant zucchini. Besides, the pumpkin shell would be needed for Thanksgiving pies for the Thanksgiving Nursery Rhyme Community Feast.
He had his eye on the crooked little house.
He left a crooked sixpence on the gatepost last Thursday but the crooked man had spotted him, pocketed the money and muttered something about going to market to get a cat to catch mice.
Which he did. (Tthough he didn’t know- and mouse didn’t know, the cat was so crooked and crotchety, it couldn’t catch mice.)
Now could Mouse coax the cat to let him stay?
He tried to find out all he could about that cat, and learned the cat loved cinnamon.
So the mouse borrowed some pumpkin pulp from Peter’s wife and made three crooked pies. He met the crooked man and the crooked cat at the gate.
“May I stay? You see I tried to pay!”
The crooked man pulled the crooked sixpence from his crooked pocket. The cat cocked a crooked eye.
“Let me be straight with you, said the mouse.
You are like me, and I am like you, and we are crooked like this house. I like you! Besides, I bake. I think we fit into this crooked house just like a jigsaw puzzle. Nooks and crannies for you, cracks for me….and Thanksgiving pie!”
“That’s something to be thankful for!” said the crooked man and crooked cat.
And they all trotted down the crooked path to the crooked little house, where they ate crooked pumpkin pies out on the crooked picnic table, together.