A tiny back-and-forth between a modest dove and a boastful wren, each answering the other in rhyme. Short enough to say in one breath, which makes it a good pick for the very youngest listeners still tuning into rhythm.
From Mother Goose / Nursery Rhymes (traditional). See the whole collection.
The dove says coo, coo, what shall I do?
I can scarce maintain two.
Pooh, pooh! says the wren, I've got ten,
And keep them all like gentlemen.
About this rhyme
A short back and forth between two birds: the dove frets that she can barely manage two chicks, and the wren boasts she's got ten and keeps them all like gentlemen. It's a tiny piece of one upmanship dressed as birdsong, over in four lines. Try a soft cooing voice for the dove and a brisk proud one for the wren.
Public domain. Text from The Real Mother Goose (Blanche Fisher Wright, 1916), via Project Gutenberg. View the source edition