Mrs. Bush Sings ‘I’m a Little Teapot to Bewildered Tots

LONDON — Barbara Bush chose the appropriate country to break spontaneously into a rendition of “I’m a Little Teapot,” gestures and all.

Mrs. Bush was inspired by a colorful paper teapot thrust at her by an eager child during the First Lady’s only solo appearance in tea-loving Britain.

Mrs. Bush visited a day care center as well as classes in cooking, English and fashion design during a 75-minute visit to the Lambeth Institute’s Strand Center, an adult education school. It is in Brixton, the poor south London area hit by anti-police riots four years ago.

“Do you know it?” asked Mrs. Bush, as she sang the classic English nursery rhyme about a teapot, short and stout. The First Lady shaped a spout with her left arm.

British Education Secretary Kenneth Baker, who accompanied Mrs. Bush on the outing, smiled encouragingly. The 3-year-old children, perhaps too young, looked bewildered.

The school’s classes, mostly in primary education, attract an average of 2,000 students a week to courses of varying length. About 65% come from “ethnic communities,” according to the Education Department.