On Mother Goose Day (May 1st), it’s hard not to want to share some of my favorite classic nursery rhymes, along with a few wonderfully unusual twists to Mother Goose traditions. I hope they'll make you laugh, pique your curiosity in learning about another country, delight you with adorable bunnies or engage you with portraits of beautiful children in the city. What's more, may they fill your day with rhyme, song and fun!
The Real Dada Mother Goose: I’m a big fan of Jon Scieszka, whose goofball, wacky humor never fails to make me laugh. His Surrealist-inspired version of Mother Goose nonsense had me smiling from start to finish. The book includes just six Mother Goose rhymes. Each of one of these six is reinvented in six clever and quite distinct ways. There’s a Pig Latin version of “Jack be Nimble” (“Ack-jay e-bay imble-nay"), and even a multiple-choice version where Jack might jump over: a) candlestick, b) pile of brick or c) hockey stick? Humpty Dumpty gets a “boring” version in which all the King’s horses and all the King’s men had nothing to do. There’s also a black out Humpty Dumpty rhyme and a postcard from Humpty at camp. Knock-knock jokes, anagrams, musical notations and more make this an endlessly entertaining for readers.
Mother Goose Goes to India: Mother-and-son team, Kabir and Suristha Sehgal, have created several books celebrating Indian culture, and their Mother Goose collection is truly something special indeed. In Mother Goose Goes to India, readers can learn new vocabulary words as they sing along with “Baa, Baa, Black Bhed (sheep).” What I enjoyed most is how marvelously everyday Indian traditions and history were woven into familiar rhymes. For instance, “London Bridge” becomes “Tunga Bridge,” one of the oldest bridges over the Tunga River in Karnataka. The baker’s man pats naan instead of cake, and a little sooar goes to the bazzar instead of a little piggie going to market.
My Very First Mother Goose: This charming collection of joyful, classic rhymes is edited by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells. Opie describes the words one first meets in nursery rhymes as magical, and I believe that’s true. The multi-colored pages with joyous and naughty images of bunnies, cats and humans brought my children (and me) countless hours of delight when they were young. This book holds a special place on my shelf and in my heart/mind, as it was given to me as a baby shower gift from my Children’s Services team at the library.
The Neighborhood Mother Goose: Last, but certainly not least, I adore Nina Crews' vibrant photography highlighting Brooklyn children, neighborhoods, rooftops and city scenes paired with more than 40 Mother Goose rhymes. It’s an energetic urban reinterpretation that feels fresh, relevant and deeply rooted in community.
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