You've got 20 years to make some cash then

Yeah...   I know 

Tis ok..   the old girl has churned out a few more "If you should meet...." poems  ..   with any luck we might get them published too.

(and...  she's splitting any royalties with meeeee!   and leaving them in her will to me... should that be relevant)

BUT... its not about the money 

  its really not!   (but you know....   

 Good .. justice at last  I'm  so glad ditty

I know!   

I am grinning  ...  really grinning! 

 Excellent news, Ditty.

That's a brilliant story - how lovely for her to get recognition at last

Great news Ditty

Well done Ditty!

She's had some amazing people contact her through the website...  one of them is a Dutch artist who wrote to tell her he used to be a teacher and loved her "little gem of a poem".

he loved it so much he had painted her crocodile and sent her a digital copy.

The first couple of prints since she has got the poem credited to her are educational books, and she waived the royalties for them, which I think is nice 

How do you pronounce 'Whene'er'? 

YAY! Something nice happening again   

wenair

Is that scottish or Newcastleish? 

oooh get me quoting meself... 

but I should add...  

this is one of the things about the poem..    It was originally titled Whene'er You Meet A Crocodile..   cos my mum couldn't get Whenever to fit the rhythm of the poem.

It never occured to her to use..  "If you should meet a crocodile"..   The title was changed to that over the years as it was reprinted.

Yorkshire ish 

and  "smashingawordtobitstomakeitfit ish"

How fantastic! What a lovely story!

Well done Ditty's mum 

excellent poem to have written at 12 years old   I'm glad she's finally got the recognition she deserves 

Thank You everyone.

I will also add..    its a real real shame that the teacher did not see fit to credit this to my mother at the time (it was first published less than a year after she wrote it).

My Mum came from an extremely unhappy and deprived home...    something like this would have been really something and potentially life changing to her back then.

But....  I am really glad she has it now...   she was a stay at home mum, following in the shadows of my dads career.     His brother even once said to her "are you ever going to do anything with your life" (grrrrrrr)....    and I know that over the years she has felt (as housewifes & mums do) that she had little for people to respect her for.... 

tis why I am really really pleased for her... she has this little bit of immortality now! 

(love you Mum....     if you read this cos google brings it up xxxxxx)

oooh & sorry I referred to you as "the old girl"  further up the page! 

Oh, well done to your mum.

Great news ditty, I do remember you mentioning this before.  

I remember this too (but couldn't remember who it was, soz Ditty!). That's really great news for your mum and all of you. It's a lovely verse as well, will road test it on my toddlers 

Wow.  Great poem.

awww...  thank you everyone.

Suzy -  little kids like it if you all shout the word DINNER at the end..   & then scream! 

They'll love it, they already do the whole row row row your boat thing with the 'if you see a crocodile don't forget to scream' thing already 

Great news Ditty

fantastic Ditty  

Never Smile at a Crocodile

Well done Ma Ditty & Ditty

Z.

*tuts*

the main message was to not poke it with a stick Zaph!!! 

Go back & read it again 

or be taken in with its toothy grin  [or similar]

Z.

Absolutely brilliant news: it's hearing stories like this that makes being on the forum worthwhile!

That was my first thought when I read it Z

Seriously, Ditty, I'm so happy for your mum and, as you say, she needed the affirmation that she would have received as a kid. Such a shame she had to wait but it's made it sweeter now

OOoooooow Ditty your Mum is no longer ANON..... ....well done to you both....will read it to Grand kids.....and tell them I know the author......

Ditty  - this is lovely.

A delightful poem and a delightful story surrounding it.

Fantastic news. Way to go Mummy Ditty *high fives*

ta peeps xx

 What a lovely story, many congrats to your mum Ditty ....it's just wonderful!