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Arrangement: Ian J. Watts / Mike Wilbury · Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks
Lyrics
Three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear
Our mittens we have lost."
"What! Lost your mittens?
You naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, you shall have no pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, we shall have no pie."
The three little kittens, they found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, see here, see here,
Our mittens we have found."
"What! Found your mittens?
You darling kittens!
Then you shall have some pie.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, you shall have some pie."
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, we shall have some pie."
The three little kittens, put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie;
"Oh, mother dear, we greatly fear
Our mittens we have soiled."
"What! Soiled your mittens?
You naughty kittens!"
Then they began to sigh,
"Mee-ow, mee-ow, we began to sigh."
Three little kittens, they washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry,
"Oh, mother dear, look here, look here,
Our mittens we have washed."
"What! Washed your mittens?
You're such good kittens!
I smell a rat close by.
Mee-ow, mee-ow, I smell a rat close by."
Traditional lyrics — public domain. Arrangement © Singalongasong Band / ClassicRocks.
History & Background
History & Origin
"Three Little Kittens" is an American nursery rhyme most commonly attributed to Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787–1860), a writer, abolitionist and advocate for children's education. The poem was first published in 1833 in her collection New Nursery Songs for All Good Children. Follen's husband, Charles Follen — a German immigrant and Harvard professor of German literature — was dismissed from his position due to his strong opposition to slavery, and Eliza continued to write and publish through those difficult years.
The rhyme follows the kittens through four domestic mishaps in strict sequence: loss, recovery, soiling and washing. The mother cat's responses — moving from stern refusal to delight to exasperation to approval — map neatly onto the emotional range that real caregivers experience, giving the rhyme a gentle comic truth.
This recording gives the kittens a rock treatment that suits their mischievous energy, with the call-and-response between the kittens and their mother delivered with real feeling.
