Childhood is not all fun & games. Children get ill and children die. Also, teenagers and adults who children know-either directly or indirectly-get sick, and die. There's no denying that sickness and death are a part of life.

My condolences to all children and all adults who have experienced the loss of a loved one. In no way do I mean to trivalize their experiences by raising this topic. However, I'm wondering whether an analysis of children's rhymes and songs might reveal ways that children work through the feelings of grief, pain, anger, and insecurity that they may feel about their experiences with the death of people they know or know of.

I've thought about this subject for a while. However, my thoughts about this topic have re-emerged partly because of the thousands of people who died as a result of the cyclones in Burma [Myammar] on May 2 & 3, 2008, and the thousands of people who lost their lives as the result of the earthquake in China on May 12, 2008. I not only thought of those people who died in those tragedies, but the people-including the children-who lived through those terrible natural experiences.

I also thought about this subject because of the experience of a teenage boy I know who is mentally retarded. Although his mother appeared to be in good health, for the last month, this boy-I'll call him Jamal-began to constantly ask adults in his life what would happen to him if his mother died. And four days ago, Jamal's mother died in her sleep, and Jamal was the one who found her.

I'm aware that there is some mention of the death of people, animals, or fictitious characters in children's rhymes that predate the 1960s {my arbitrary date for the beginning of what I categorize as "contemporary rhymes"}. I'm also aware there is some mention of the death of people, animals, or fictitious characters in contemporary children's rhymes. I'll share some examples of both categories of rhymes in this thread and invite other Mudcat members, and Mudcat guests to also share some examples of these types of children's rhymes.

I'm also interested any comments on my theory that children's rhymes that mention death may [unconsciously] help children mentally and/or emotionally prepare for and cope with the occurance of the death of someone who they know.

Thanks, in advance, for your participation in this thread.