Puppy and I by A.A. Milne (Poetry)

I read the poem Puppy and I by A.A. Milne (also the author of Winnie the Pooh)

I met a Man as I went walking:
We got talking,
Man and I.
"Where are you going to, Man?" I said
(I said to the Man as he went by).
"Down to the village, to get some bread.
Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met a horse as I went walking;
We got talking,
Horse and I.
"Where are you going to, Horse, today?"
(I said to the Horse as he went by).
"Down to the village to get some hay.
Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met a Woman as I went walking;
We got talking,
Woman and I.
"Where are you going to, Woman, so early?"
(I said to the Woman as she went by).
"Down to the village to get some barley.
Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met some Rabbits as I went walking;
We got talking,
Rabbits and I.
"Where are you going in your brown fur coats?"
(I said to the Rabbits as they went by).
"Down to the village to get some oats.
Will you come with us?" "No, not I."

I met a Puppy as I went walking;
We got talking,
Puppy and I.
"Where are you going this nice fine day?"
(I said to the Puppy as he went by).
"Up to the hills to roll and play."
"I'll come with you, Puppy," said I.


     This poem is about the narrator who is not specified as a human or animal etc.  The narrator goes walking and in each section of the poem the narrator encounters a man and a woman and different animals.  Every time the narrator encounters a new person / animal, the narrator asks where they're going and the person / animal informs the narrator where they're going and ask if the narrator wants to join.  After each person/animal explains to the narrator where they're going and asks if the narrator wants to join, the narrator said "No, not I".  Finally, at the end, the narrator runs into a puppy and asks the puppy where he's going.  The puppy explains that he's going up to the hills to roll and play. The narrator immediately says that they'll come with the puppy.
     As a teacher I think this would be a cute poem to read to a younger grade.  As an assessment, I think it would be cute to have the children add on to the poem before the puppy section.  They could choose a new animal or person for the narrator to run into.  Another idea would be for the class to take on a roll of one of the characters in the poem and act it out for the class.
Genre: Humor
Subject: Dialogue