Snail! Snail! Come Out'n o' Yō' Shell - African American Children's Songs - Historical African American - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World  - Intro Image

Notes

*Note on the translation of out of:

out'n = out of
o' = of

So the original phrase out'n o' has two words meaning "of" in it. I left one out.

Thanks and Acknowledgements

This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).

Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci.

Illustration by Monique Palomares.