I'm workin! In an archival library. Somewhere.
I thought I'd share a poem I found while processing a recent donation: a children's activity book from 1956. It is about kittehs so it seems appropriate for this thread.
I am almost entirely sure this is in the public domain for several reasons.. But just in case, the copyright is owned by Child Training Association, Inc which likely no longer exists. Plus this ought to fall under fair use anyway.
And otherwise it's just gonna sit around untouched in a vault.
The Ballad of Kitty Mew
By Annamae Kelly, Illustrated by Marge Opitz
Wee Pussy Mew had gone to school
To learn a drowsy purr.
But Kitty Mew refused to go--
A stubborn ball of fur.
"I will not purr! I will not purr!
I will not go to school!
Why can't I play about the yard
And roll a wooden spool?"
One day small Pussy Mew came home
When supper things were stirring,
And cried in glee, "Oh Mother, dear,
I got an A in purring!"
A mouse of catnip was the prize
And Mother-Cat was proud.
She kissed her child and snuggled him
And mewed her praise aloud.
Poor Kitty Mew walked off alone
To hang her head in shame.
Why had she stayed about the yard
To play that foolish game?
She thought about the catnip mouse.
It was a lovely prize.
Then off she ran to Pussy's school,
Tears streaming from her eyes.
"I want a mouse of catnip, too,
Like Pussy Mew's!" cried she.
"And if you'll let me come to school,
How very good I'll be!"
"Why, come right in," the teacher said,
"And sit here by my side.
The lessons are not really hard
You'll find out when you've tried."
Then furry, purry Teacher-Cat
Took out her purring chart
And drilled her little pupil till
She'd learned it all by heard.
Soon Kitty Mew the prize had won--
A mouse of catnip, too;
For she had learned the drowsy purr
As well as Pussy Mew.
Now, every cat should learn to purr,
It is the kitten way
Of saying, "Thank you very much
For home and food each day."