A programme for children under five
'But none for the little boy who lives down the lane,' says the version of ' Baa, Baa, Black Sheep ' that we first broadcast in these programmes about three months ago. But our under-fives expressed disapproval. My son, aged four,' wrote one mother, 'begs to differ. If "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep " has three bags full, why sing " none for the little boy? ".' 'My daughter,' wrote another mother, ' wants to know what happened to the third bag of wool? ' Other comments made it clear that the matter went deeper than a mere desire for mathematical exactitude; some children were not only puzzled but ' upset.' ' Why shouldn't the little boy have one? ' they asked; he didn't appear to have deserved to be left out. Where is a small child's security if he is to be deprived when others are not, and that without any explanation? So it was not impossible for us to understand the feeling of apprehension which this version of the nursery rhyme seemed to have aroused. 'Baa. Baa, Black Sheep ' came back into the programme last week, and will be heard again several times this week, hut now we take care to distribute the bags more fairly, and to ensure ' one for the little boy who lives down the lane.'
Elizabeth A. Taylor