The Real Mother Goose

by Blanche Fisher Wright (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 1994

Status

Available

Local notes

E Mot (c.3)

Barcode

6717

Publication

Cartwheel Books (1994)

Description

A comprehensive collection of over three-hundred traditional nursery rhymes.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1916

User reviews

LibraryThing member ChelseaHopton
This is a great book full of Mother Goose nursery rhymes! The illustrations in this book are fabulous. Each illustration goes along with the rhyme very well. This book is full of classic nursery rhymes that are wonderful to read to a child. This book is also great to give to a child who is learning
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to read. I recommend this book for all children, especially those who love nursey rhymes!
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
This one frustrates me a bit because I loved it when I was a kid and our nursery rhymes are indeed an important part of my heritage but it perplexes Emmett because it's so chock-full of nursery rhymes that only like every fourth or fifth one gets an illustration, and sometimes it's a really
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perfunctory one like a generically oldtimey woman in a bonnet and kirtle sitting by a tree and she could be Little Bo Peep or the old lady who swallowed a fly or the Queen of Hearts missing her tarts or whatever really. He prefers the (by most measures inferior) Sing a Song of Sixpence book because the images help him bootstrap into the content. So there is treasure hid away in these pages, but my feelings about reading it with actual kids are nevertheless mixed. (I'm also curious about the provenance and specific meaning of the "real,' since you can't like own a nursery rhyme man. it reeks of insecurity-driven, belligerent self-important self-assertion, like the Real IRA or twitter accounts on the template of @darealbubbasparxxx or @shialebeoufREAL)
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LibraryThing member sharese
Summary:
When people think of Mother Goose books, this is the tome they think of! With the rich color prints and black and white drawings throughout the poetry, this is one of the first books for children ever purchased by families. The cover is a material covered in a color print of a witch riding
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a large goose carrying a baby in her basket. Some of the poems are not politically correct for 2008 but most still have their charm and certainally all have their place in history. Some poems and sing-song chants started to warn children or to scare them into being good. This collection of poems is something most children are exposed to and I would consider to be a staple of all libraries.

Review:
The book from 1916 belongs to my collection and I was drawn to it by it's age and it's wonderful pictures. The artist did an amazing job of using many colors to draw in small children and to visually tell the story. Many of the poems I had never heard as a child and I found interesting as an adult. It is not a surprise to me that this book has been printed over and over and is still being read to children.
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LibraryThing member ksimpson
This book is pretty big. It has all the classic Mother Goose rhymes in it and has some pretty good pictures to go along with them. This is not my favorite Mother Goose book of all time but it is pretty good and it's pretty comprehensive. If I were to use this in the classroom, I'd probably use it
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to talk about stories that are passed down orally or about rhyming. I would reccommend this book for younger children, about 3 to 6 or 7.
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LibraryThing member alliek710
Great collection of rhymes to use for a poetry unit.
LibraryThing member elizabethholloway
This Mother Goose collection contains over 300 verses and includes Wright's 1916 illustrations. Certainly, the overwhelming number of rhymes makes this a book for adults and children to thumb through and find their favorite verses or intriguing pictures. For parents concerned about the cultural
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literacy of the children, this book can quell those fears as virtually any verse any one can think of is included. Since there are so many verses, though, not everyone has an illustration, meaning many of them may be lost on young readers. On the other hand, many of the illustrations are interesting. There are many pictures with children. The watercolor and ink make the pictures clear and colorful. Some have interesting detail, like Little Boy Blue with four different toys. This is appropriate for ages 3 to 6.
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LibraryThing member IEliasson
This quintessential collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, both well-known and obscure, is profusely illustrated. May be confusing for younger readers as the connection between text and illustrations is not always clear and not all of the rhymes have illustrations. Nonetheless the sheer volume
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of rhymes and pictures should satisfy readers of all ages. Charming ink and watercolor illustrations by Blanche Fisher Wright are reminiscent of the Art Deco movement. Best suited for individual or pair perusal as the pages are crowded, and some illustrations are small.
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LibraryThing member ptnguyen
In this special anniversary collection with 100 rhymes, children will meet storybook immortals such as Gregory Porgy, Little Bo-Peep, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, and Three Blind Mice. The illustrations are colorful and children will be delighted by the characters, both humans and animals. The
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clothes that the characters wear are out-of-date but the rhymes are a delight.

I prefer the The Real Mother Goose because, besides the color illustrations, it is fun to meet my old friends again, such as Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Little Bo-Peep. I grew up with these classic characters and can recite the rhymes. I am still trying to be friends with Mrs. Whirly and Handy Spandy in Mother Goose’s Little Treasures. They are fairly new and it will take some time to learn to add them to my list of favorite nursery rhymes.
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LibraryThing member ktextor
This classic book gives everyone the chance to read the children's classic nursery rimes that you read as a child. It is also interesting to have children read some of these rimes that they may have never even heard before. The pictures are set to be very old and the colors are interesting to go
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along with the four to five poems on each page. A fun read to have for younger children at home or at the Kindergarten level.
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LibraryThing member caitsm
A gigantic compilation of Mother Goose rhymes with beautiful illustrations. With over 200 different rhymes and stories, this book can never get old!
LibraryThing member kaykwilts
This is a wonderfully illustrated book.
LibraryThing member jessgee
This book of poems is a great book for children. This book has all of the classic mother goose rhymes that children love.The illustrations in this book are fun as well.

My mother used to read this book to me when I was younger, it was one of my favorites because I loved mother goose rhymes.

1.
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Pat-A-Cake the teacher would bring cupcakes and the children would get to decorate and eat the cupcakes.

2. For "there was an old was an old woman" you would do shoe activities. We could learn to tie shoes that day, then ask questions like "why do we wear shoes"?
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LibraryThing member LainaBourgeois
This compellation of classic nursery rhymes is a great way to get younger children into reading.
LibraryThing member lmckeon
Great classic nursery rhymes for children of all ages. This book included all traditional tale and nursery rhymes your grandparents remember. I have had this book my entire life and will be happy to share it with my own children one day. I recommend this book to everyone with children!
LibraryThing member glanecia
I grew up reading and hearing these nursery rhymes. There is something magical and very comfortable about the words.
LibraryThing member Kalmiopsis
This is the same Mother Goose I had as a child in the late 40s and early 50s. The illustrations are classic and beautiful. I can say many of the rhymes by heart. They helped develop a love for words. Many of the rhymes have historical significance.
LibraryThing member msmarymac
Summary: This is a compilation of various Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes that have been passed down through the years. The short easy verse and rhythmic stance makes these nursery rhymes a delight for children of all ages. While many are common nursery rhymes that many have heard such as “Jack and
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Jill” others may not be as common but are just as catchy such as “We Willie Winkie.”
Personal Reaction: I love Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and read them to my children often. My favorites are the ones that come back to memory when random conversation presents a key phrase from a familiar rhyme such as every time I hear a someone say “Why do you only have one shoe on?” I can’t help but say to myself, “Diddle Diddle Dumpling My son John, went to bed with his trousers on. One shoe off, one shoe on, diddle diddle dumpling, my son John.”
Classroom Extension:
1. Nursery Rhymes are a great way to teach children about rhythm as well as rhyming words and syllable count.
2. A great exercise would be to have children come up with their own nursery rhyme or to change a common nursery rhyme using the same syllabic count but inserting different words.
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LibraryThing member stephanierouse
Summary: This book has a multitude of stories, poems and tales. Classic tales: jack be nimble, we willie winkie, old woman in a shoe etc...
The pictures in the book are beautifully done with extreme attention to children.

Personal: this book has been handed down from my brother-in-law, to my
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children. We often refer to this book when we have classroom assignments that need a rhyme or a tale. I try to read this book to my children instead of some of the "newer" ones they enjoy, because of the history and how much i loved them as a child.

Extension ideas: 1.) during the lesson on rhyme words, I would read this book aloud and have the children point out (verbally) the rhyme in the story.
2. I would group the children in 3's and have them come up with their own rhyming words , using their spelling words. They could draw pictures to go along with the rhyming words they had found.
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LibraryThing member barbarashuler
This is a wonderful collection of Mother Goose that would be wonderful to keep in any classroom. I enjoyed it very much.
LibraryThing member regularguy5mb
I remember having a hardback version of this book growing up. I think my sister has it now (for my niece). I've been wanting to revisit it for some time, so when it showed up in my Little Free Library, I grabbed it for another read-through.

Here are all the classic Mother Goose rhymes and riddles,
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some that have become so common we know them by heart, others that aren't as well known; but all worth a read.

I feel like every home should have a copy of this book.
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LibraryThing member Kelsey_Barrell
This book was fun to read for many reasons! First, I loved the rhymes the author included. There were so many that I already knew from growing up and then there were also new ones that I have never heard before! For example, the author included "Jack and Jill & Humpty Dumpty" which were rhymes I
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have already heard before. But then the author included "Blue Bell Boy & The Girl In The Lane" which were rhymes I have never heard before. Second, the illustrations were drawn well for this book. They were soft and drawn nicely so that they complimented the rhymes perfectly. For example, for the rhyme "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, the author included a full page picture showing a lady inside a pumpkin. The illustration provides humor to the nursery rhyme. The overall message of this book is about keeping traditions alive with nursery rhymes. They provide comfort and humor that are great year after year!
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LibraryThing member burtmiller
A+++ If you haven't seen this book you have been hiding under a rock for 100 years. "Classic"
LibraryThing member Miriahharrison
This book is so simple with traditional rhymes, riddles, songs, poetry and stories. Its a great book to teach children about rhymes and poetry.
LibraryThing member AlanWPowers
The Real Mother Goose may not include my favorite kids’ rhyme to teach college freshmen. Many memorize it at first hearing:
“Little Robin Redbreast
Sitting on a pole—
Niddle noddle went his head
And poop went his hole.”
That was printed in early Mother Goose books in England, but maybe
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suppressed (like Sir John Suckling’s “Love is the fart / Of every heart,” 1646) until unearthed in the last few decades.
Speaking of England, these have a distinctly British accent, like "Little Robin Redbreast": that's the British bird, very small, while the American Robin is good-sized for a songbird. And "Itsy, bitsy spider went up the garden spout": it's the outdoor yard spout--the British word for "yard" is "garden." And there are more, yet we consider them American nursery rhymes.
I wonder how many kids learn Mother Goose now, maybe fewer than when I read ‘em to my kids four decades ago, though of course I’d learned dozens as a kid, and maybe now many learn from parents who also learned by hearing, not reading. Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep, Little Boy Blue come blow your horn, and especially,
“Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day,
Little Johnny wants to play.”
I say this in the rainy aftermath of Hurricane Michael on our south New England coast. Lots about shepherd kids and their sheep, some about pigs (and "This little piggy"), and of course much about field and hills,
“Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.”
Maybe this one needs revision; it suggests females can not avoid males’ calamities. I’m quite sure as a kid my sense of Jack’s broken crown was in fact a diadem, not a brain hemorrhage.
Besides rural geography, there’s many food references, like
“Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,
Baker’s man.
Bake me a cake
As fast as you can.

Pat it, and prick it,
And mark it with T.
Put it in the oven
For Tommy and me.”
But the most comprehensive dietary assessment,
“Jack Sprat could eat no fat,
His wife could eat no lean;
And so, betwixt them both,
They licked the platter clean.”
Debates about the health of fat or meat go back at least to the Renaissance, and Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy— which dicusses the effect of meat on depression (the Renaissance word for it, in the title).
Some are satires on cuteness, like “There was a little girl/ Who had a little curl,/ Right in the middle of her forehead./ When she was good, /She was very, very good;/ But when she was bad, she was horrid.” Longfellow wrote that, and the little curly girl strikes up an upstairs fit her mom mistakes for the boys’ fighting.
Then there's the astronomical ones, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star...like a diamond in the sky." Romeo tells us Juliet's eyes would be brighter than the fairest stars. But we are still on the nursery level about stars, "How I wonder what you are, / Up above the world so high...." And the meteorological ones, "Itsy, bitsy spider/ Went up the garden spout./ Down came the rain and/ Washed the spider out.// Out came the sun and/ Dried up all the rain./ The itsy, bitsy spider / Climbed up the spout again."

Many of the rhymes urge kids into athletic or physical skills, “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick,/ Jack jump over the Candle-stick.” Wonder what kids make of this if they’ve never seen a candlestick—or, implied in the verse, a candle in it, unless it’s a very tall candle-holder, which the past did feature.
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LibraryThing member kfarlow
A collection of mother goose poems.

Rating

(337 ratings; 4.2)
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