Little Lady's Favourite New Poem - Granny by Grace Nichols

My husband recently bought my daughter a second hand copy of the Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Literature, an absolutely beuatiful book with some of my favourite children's books reproduced in it.  She read me one particular poem with quite some glee and rather put me to shame:

Granny

Granny Granny
please comb my hair
you always take your time
you always take such care.

You put me to sit on a cushion
between your knees
you rub a little coconut oil
parting gentle as a breeze.


Mummy Mummy
she's always in a hurry - hurry rush
she pulls my hair
sometimes she tugs.

But Granny
you have all the time in the world
and when you're finished
you always turn my head and say "Now who's a nice girl."

- by Grace Nichols

But then again her granny who is so gentle, used to be my mum, and I remember her being a lot less gentle with my hair - Little Lady didn't look quite so convinced about that when I tried to tell her.