My Very First Mother Goose

Opie, I., & Wells, R. (1996). My very first mother goose. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
This book contains four rhymes with several illustrations on each page. The text is much larger than that of "Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever,"and contains a more creative use of illustrations with the

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text.

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My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells is 107 pages. It is divided into 4 chapters with 68 nursery rhymes divided throughout the chapters. The intended audience would be 2-5+years and even adults would enjoy this collection of traditional rhymes with the

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realistic/folk art style. Almost every page stands on its own. The illustrations create a cause and effect relationship with the text and after finishing one verse you’re spurred onto the next page by the expectant tone created from the last rhyme and its illustration. Panels and their verses are drawn in varying sizes, alternating from a full page illustration without text to a six, four, three or two small thumb size illustrations and smaller font to match. Panels can vary from a quarter to a half of page placed in the center or on the top or bottom. All this page and composition design provides rhythm and unity in the picture book.
The nostalgic thoughtful and amusing illustrations are done with ink and watercolor. Colors are contrasting with rich earth dark colors next to summer pastels. Some pages have all white backgrounds with checkerboard borders or animal motifs. Most characters are whimsical animals with human expressions and human stances. An example of the illustrations spontaneous visual surprise is page 10. A full page in yellow surrounds an oval scene. The scene has a diagonal powder blue horizon touching a mellow green earth, and two bunnies tumbling along the diagonal horizon with a green pail in the air. Big pink bunny feet and pink ears push out in contrast, adding to the circular falling motion within the oval at the center of the yellow page. Verses across the top and bottom lock the scene in place.
The book has a title page, index and table of contents. It has an attractive “taxi” yellow jacket with a dignified and content Mother Goose (full page) and four idyllic animals sitting on her back. In comparing both Mother Goose selections my preference would be the Iona Opie collection. I would want an edition that did not alter the verses. There are many more intriguing characters to watch as you read and listen to the nursery rhymes. Rosemary Wells’s contrasting and vibrant color choices pull your eye right into the panel and visual literacy is instantaneous. Opie’s book is more complex and can be used in response and retell activities as well as early writing projects in 1st and 2nd grade

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Summary: This is a wonderful book of nursery rhymes and fairytales.

Personal Effect: Mother Goose is one of the first books that I ever had read to me as a child. It is definitly a favorite.

Extension Ideas: This would be a great book to introduce poetry to children and to show how the author plays

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on words in order to create a beautiful story. You could have the students pick out their favorite nursery rhyme and memorize it then recite it in front of the class.

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-No Award
-pre-k-2nd
-In this book there are several stories such as Jack and Jill, Hey diddle, diddle, little Jumping Joan, the moon sees me and Index of first lines. These rhymes are very short to help younger children understand and memorize these small tales.
-This book is a good way to teach

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children to work on different sounds and hearing different rhymes.
-You can use different art activities for these rhymes
-I would take these rhymes and cut them line by line. After cutting the rhymes I would mix them up. Each group would have to put the rhymes together by reading the different rhymes and sounding them out.

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This book is appropriate for first through third grades. There are a variety of rhymes that students can choose from, so they can read what they know and still have a challenge. The book has four chapters and features some classic rhymes such as Jack and Jill, Dickory Dickory and Pat a cake. There

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are many colorful pictures with a rabbit as the main character. These rhymes are also put in many different forms, for example there is a rhyme that is written around a picture of a moon.
Uses in the classroom:
- I would print out different formats that children can write their rhymes on and have then pick one (ex: rhymes all over the page, around the page, across or diagonal)
- I would print out shapes such as circles and stars and have children write a rhyme around that shape
- Free write, I would have children write a rhyme however they want to.

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Awards the book has received: None
Appropriate Grade Level: Pre-K - Grade 3
My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie contains sixty eight different poems. This book has a great collection of nursery rhymes. Some of these nursery rhymes are well recognized such as “Pat-a-cake”, "Hey Diddle,

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Diddle", and "Star light, Star Bright". It is broken down into four chapters beginning with "Jack and Jill" and ending with "The Moon Sees Me". The nursery rhymes in this book helps a child to be creative and use their imagination. The rhymes are well chosen and given at the right length. The pictures are warm and inviting with a great deal of young child appeal.
• This could help the children recognize letters and learn the alphabet.
• The children can act out some of the poems.
• This book can help children understand the concept of rhyming.
• Children can create their book rhyme and at the end of the activity, I will help them create a book with all of their rhymes.

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Opie, Iona. My very first mother goose. Cambridge, Mass.:Candlewick Press, 1996. This book has illustrations by Rosemary Wells.This book has different poems compared to Mary Engelbreit. The quality of the pictures are not of the same caliber as Engelbreit. The font is larger and is spread out over

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the pages. The book is divided by chapters with specific poems to begin each section. This would make a good lapbook for young childre getting them used to the rhythm and rhyme. Age group: 3-6 years

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Illustrated by the popular Rosemary Wells (known for Max & Ruby), well-known and loved Mother Goose stories are given new life. Favorites like "Jack and Jill" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" are included in this book, and are easy to find using the index in the back, which is categorized by the first

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lines of the rhymes. A great introduction to Mother Goose for little ones.

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A great book filled with classic rhymes and beautiful illustrations. I have read these nursery rhymes as a mother and I now love to use them with my Kindergarteners and First Graders.

In this book children can explore different rhymes and have fun reading along as they go through each nursery rhyme. Teachers can also use this book to introduce poetry to younger readers and writers as a mentor text.

I recognized the illustrators drawings as the same person who illustrated the show Ruby and Max! It was fun to make that connection. I think that this is a great book for preschool/kindergarten teachers to use to get young kids exposed to poetry.

This anniversary edition of My Very First Mother Goose for the very young child is enchanting. Though it differs from my image of Mother Goose books with different styles of illustrations, the use of a variety of little critters is charming.

The book is sturdy and should withstand the rough handling

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that wee little hands can give a book turning pages and fingering the pictures.

Some of the pages of illustrations are more appealing to me than others but all have a distinct charm. I particularly liked "Puffer-billies all in a row," "Little Boy Blue," "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon," "Pat A Cake," "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Bless the bed that I lie on.," and "The Brave Duke of York, he had ten thousand men..."

Some of the rhymes are cut short in deference to the intended age of the audience. My Very First Mother Goose brings the beloved rhyming charm to the very young with lots of cute images to capture their attention and imagination.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Candlewick Press to facilitate a review of my honest opinions which are freely given. Giveaway copy is provided by and directly to the winner.

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Ii think that I have a few books by Iona Opie and she is a specialist in children's literature. Just checked and I have the Oxford Nursery Rhyme book edited by her. So she has a good pedigree for writing this book. Having moved around the world a bit when my kids were being exposed to nursery

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rhymes I appreciate how there are subtle differences between American and English versions of the rhymes ....but these all seem to be the classics that I recall and were the versions on all the kid's recordings (on cassettes) that we had for the children. ...Though I'm just looking at "Hey diddle diddle" and I realise that my dad used to recite it as "the little doing laughter to see such sport" ....whereas Opie has it "to see such fun".
Ah that wonderful classic...."To market to market to buy a fat pig".....Rosemary Wells has the fat hog riding home in the back seat of a luxury sports tourer. And whilst on the subject of Rosemary Well's illustrations....they are just brilliant. As Iona Opie says: "Her illustrations reflect Mother Goose's many moods: lumpish, her animals look wickedly askance at the world; happy, they almost dance off the page; cosily at home, there is no greater depth of contentment. They make me shout with glee". Yeh....I think that just about captures it. They are great illustrations...nearly all done with animal characters. I love them too. She's done a great job and Opie has selected the best of the rhymes. Happy to give it 5 stars.

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