The ever curious child in everyone?

Isn’t it amazing how nursery rhymes are immortalized as they’re passed down from generation to generation? Such is the power of children's abiding fascination for nonsensical verse, combined with a pretty melody. It’s so funny how babies like to hear the same words, or tunes, over and over again.









These curiously cute retro baby prints by artist Lilian Rowles, available at ShopCurious, remind me of the lullabies my mother used to sing to me. My favourite was ‘Go To Sleep My Baby’. I’ve looked this up on the net and it seems there are many variations of the lullaby. The words I know (using my name by way of example) are:







Go to sleep my baby -
Close your big blue eyes
Angels up above you,
Watching little Susan from the skies;

Great big moon is shining,
Stars begin to peep,
It’s time for little baby Susan
To go to sleep.










If there’s enough demand, I’ll ask my mother to sing it for you too. By the way, she soon progressed on to rather more curious rhymes, for instance:

If all the world were paper,
And all the sea were ink,
And all the trees were bread and cheese,
What would we have to drink?









And curiouser still…

My Aunt’s name is Aloysia (pronounced Al-oo-ish-a) Waterbutt,
She lives down at Burton on Trent,
Every time she goes out on her bicycle,
She always gets her handle bars bent...

That one always had me in fits of giggles.





I’m not sure if this is just a sad weakness for nostalgia, but my theory is that childlike curiosity sometimes doesn’t go away - and can develop into a lifelong taste for unusual things.

Anyway, I was wondering if you might want to share your childhood favourites too – or perhaps even some of the lullabies you’ve sung to your children…

Do you?

Dear Mum...

With Mothers' Day less than two weeks away in the UK, I was trying to decide what sort of gift my mother would really appreciate.

I was reminded that mothers always have plenty of advice for us. “Remember to wear your vest”, “never accept a lift from a stranger”, “eat breakfast every day” and so on. However, I wasn’t really one for listening to my mother’s advice, which is probably why the words I recall her using most often were, “I told you so.”

Now I’m a bit older, I’d like to know more about my dear Mum: What was life like when she was growing up, where did she get her ideas from and what advice would she give me now?


This curiously appropriate book ‘from you to me’, available at ShopCurious, asks these questions and many more. In fact, it’s the perfect Mothers’ Day gift…Just let your Mum provide the answers in her own special way, and return the completed book to you: You’ll find out more about your family and lots of things you didn’t know. What’s more, your mother will really enjoy adding her personal touches to the journal - and providing you with stories you’ll treasure and can pass on to future generations.

What are the most unique and precious memories from your childhood? How helpful were your mother’s words of advice to you? Do let us know… “And make sure wash behind your ears.”

Will you?

PS Mum will also enjoy this cheesy video clip - I love the curious colours.