Books and Sources

Books to Read With Children

Craig, Helen. I see the moon, and the moon sees me ... NY: Willa Perlman Books / HarperCollins, (c) 1992. ISBN 0-06-021453-8; ISBN 0-06-021454-6.

Our family favorite. Charming and detailed watercolor illustrations with fifty-four children's rhymes from a variety of sources. For many of the rhymes, it includes more complete versions of the lyrics than are commonly encountered.

Tomie de Paola is so popular an illustrator that you have surely already encountered his books, whether or not you are aware of it. He gives credit for the source of most of the rhymes being from the authoritative collections of Peter and Iona Opie, and has made a special effort to include the full version of the longer rhymes. It is a rather large collection (100+ pages) with clear colorful appealing illustrations.

A curious and interesting attempt at reworking the traditional nursery rhymes in a politically correct fashion (non-sexist, sensitive to those with disabilities, etc.). Useful for those parents concerned about social issues. The book also puts its money where its mouth is, by using as illustrations works by the highly collectible artist, Carolyn Marie Blattel, who is also an achrondroplastic dwarf.

Inexpensive and entertaining, this cook can be read, sung, and colored in by the child. The rhymes are not just traditional, but historically accurate, being largely selected from the Dover reprint of the 1833 version of Mother Goose's Melodies (see below).

This is the only book you will find listed in multiple sections of this source page. It is a true delight, with amusing illustrations from Maurice Sendak, historical annotations in the footnotes at the end of the book, and a rich and earthy selection of offbeat (and sometimes risque) rhymes, some of which you will surely remember from your own childhood.

Iona Opie is the grand old dame of children's rhymes, surely the most knowledgeable person on the subject alive today, and one of my personal heros. Rosemary Wells is widely known for her delightful stories and illustrations which have the gift of clearly expressing the child's emotional state in a way all can identify. This collaboration has my enthusiastic endorsement. In particular, if you are a parent, be sure to read the introduction to this book, in which Iona Opie gives examples of how to strategically use nursery rhymes to help children understand themselves, their emotions, their world, and to help them learn to laught at themselves. A delightful book by two wise women, each sensitive to children and their needs.

Remember Curious George? Well, this is the same author/illustrator, applying his talents to just a bare few of his own favorite rhymes. I laugh every time I read this to my child, because of the delightful visual puns he uses in the musical calligraphy -- imagine the music for Humpty Dumpty with the noteheads being fried eggs, sunny side up. Given the date of the original edition, some of the illustrations have sexist overtones. With a child who is old enough, I explain these as being the product of a different era.

This large and lushly illustrated collection was printed in Italy just as many of the fine art coffee table books are, and it does bear a certain resemblance to a fine art coffee table book. The illustrations are so richly coloured, vibrant, and cleanly textured you may wish you could frame them, as I did, and indeed, I bought multiple copies to do so with single pages. The selection of rhymes is intelligent and diverse, including enough traditional rhymes for a sense of familiarity, but also including weather lore, medieval riddles, and other surprises which blend very nicely into the whole. Since it is physically a little large, it is more appropriate for reading with a group of children, rather than snuggling on the couch. Highly recommended for the almost school age child!

Suggested Books Collecting Children's Rhymes

Fowke, Edith. Sally go round the sun; three hundred children's songs, rhymes and games. NY: Doubleday, (c1969).

Mother's Gooses melodies: Facsimile edition of the Munroe and Francis "Copyright 1833" version., with a new introduction and bibliographic note by E. F. Bleiler. NY: Dover Publns, c1970.

Opie, Iona & Opie, Peter. I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, c1992, 1st edition c1947.

Opie, Iona & Opie, Peter. The Oxford nursery rhyme book. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977, c1951.

Rosetti, Christina. Sing-song, a nursery rhyme book. New York: Dover Publns, 1968, c1872.

Singing games and playparty games, compiled by Richard Chase, Illustrated by Joshua Tolford. New York: Dover Publns, 1967, c1949.

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Literary Criticism & Analysis of Children's Rhymes

This one is a real eye-opener. Expect to be shocked, surprised, delighted, and amazed. But don't read it if you think it might spoil your fondness for the rhymes you are accustomed to -- they take on a whole new meaning.

Rollin, Lucy. Cradle and all : a cultural and psychoanalytic reading of nursery rhymes. Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c1992.

Sackville-West, Victoria. Nursery rhymes. London, Dropmore Press, 1947.

An early classic in the field.

Performance Tips || History || Sources (c)1995-2005, P. F. Anderson, All graphics, interface, organization, and selected content. URL of current page: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~pfa/dreamhouse/nursery/sources.html Last Update: Saturday, 09-Oct-2004 13:27:36 EDT