My Very First Mother Goose

by Iona Opie, Rosemary Wells (Illustrator)

Overview

Twenty years after Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells released their first collection of Mother Goose rhymes, the celebrated original is back in a gorgeous anniversary edition.

To a small child, words are magical. And the most magical of all are the beloved words of Mother Goose. Here, folklorist Iona Opie has gathered more than sixty treasured rhymes in their most perfect, honest forms, from “Hey Diddle, Diddle" and “Pat-a-Cake” to “Little Jack Horner” and “Pussycat, Pussycat” — familiar verses that have been passed from parent to child for generations and are every child’s birthright. With watercolors by Rosemary Wells capturing the simple joy and sly humor of the classic nursery rhymes, this special anniversary volume features a case cover and jacket and includes a note from the illustrator on the unparalleled influence of Mother Goose, both during childhood and far beyond it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763688912
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Series:	My Very First Mother Goose Series
Edition description:	20th Anniversary Edition
Pages:	108
Sales rank:	114,312
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 11.40(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	NP (what's this?)
Age Range:	1 - 4 Years

About the Author

Iona Opie (1923-2017) dedicated her life to collecting and preserving children’s rhymes as an art form and believed that “nursery rhymes are good for you.” In partnership with her late husband, Peter Opie, she edited many acclaimed books of children’s folklore, including The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.

Rosemary Wells is the author and/or illustrator of more than 120 books for young readers. She has won many awards, including more than twenty American Library Association Notable Book citations, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year Award, and a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award. She lives in a small town in New England.

Editorial Reviews

A lovely 20th-anniversary edition of the acclaimed 1996 collaboration between illustrator Rosemary Wells and editor Iona Opie. Here some 60 classic nursery rhymes are set amid ink-and-watercolor pictures as quirky as they are cozy.
—The Wall Street Journal

It's been 20 years since world-renowned folklorist Iona Opie and beloved illustrator Rosemary Wells (who Opie firmly believes is Mother Goose's second cousin) published the ultimate—and award-winning—nursery rhyme collection My Very First Mother Goose. With this anniversary edition (sporting a fetching new pale-yellow cover), another generation of young children will clap their hands, wiggle their toes and sing-song along to 60 "eccentric, funny, goluptious, haphazard" rhymes...Every household needs this book.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

From the Publisher

In this exuberant anthology, Opie and Wells choose the best of Mother Goose's ageless work and polish it to a brilliant shine: more than 60 rhymes appear here in four chapters of large, toddler-friendly type. And for those who thought there were no new feathers to be plucked from this goose, Wells's rich watercolor interpretations, simultaneously classic and contemporary, are a revelation. Readers will probably agree with Opie's prefatory remark: "I firmly believe that Rosemary Wells is Mother Goose's second cousin and has inherited the family point of view." Her cast of bushy bunnies (think Max and Ruby), classy cats and the occasional human interact with a combination of wit, charm and ingenuity: Humpty Dumpty, for example, is a soft-boiled egg, knocked accidentally-on-purpose to the floor by a boy bunny at the breakfast table. Also strikingand appropriate for the intended audienceare the numerous scenes of adults and children working and playing together. The cozy, well-appointed settings and loving gestures project a reassuring intimacy. Wells also makes full use of an extended trim size. She encircles rhymes with spots of art, as in the Hungarian-style cat violinists that surround the text of "Hey diddle, diddle," or embellishes spreads with panels, identifying pig breeds in her depiction of "Whose little pigs are these?" and naming a few constellations alongside "Star light, star bright." Each rhyme begins with a sprightly decorated initial: a golden pear hangs from the "I" in "I had a little nut tree." Motifs recur subtly and purposefully, encouraging close inspection of the pages. A collaboration that both freshens and preserves the past, this volume deserves a prominent place not just in the nursery room but on the shelves of all who treasure illustrated books. Ages 2-up. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

PreS-KThe 60 plus rhymes in this collection are mostly the old-time favorites, but include some more recent ones such as "Shoo Fly" and "Down by the Station." Wells illustrates the selections with her usual winsome, quirky, anthropomorphic mice, rabbits, cats, pigs, bears, etc., and even includes some people. The lavish ink-and-watercolors are filled with action and delightful details. Ranging in size from tiny vignettes to double-page spreads, they are arranged on the pages in a variety of ways to complement the text. The typeface is large and very clear. Such a spirit of fun and pleasure emanates from every page of this big, handsome volume that although there are many distinguished entries in the nursery-rhyme book field, this one is sure to add special joy to any collection.Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA

School Library Journal

My Very First Mother Goose ( Sept. 1996; 108 pp.; 1-56402- 620-5): One glimpse of the merry Wells (The Language of Doves, p. 1159, etc.) characters that caper through these pages—a cast of hundreds—one flip through the pages where Opie (I Saw Esau, 1992, etc.) has arranged almost 70 familiar and not-so-familiar rhymes to an effect of unabashed glee, and readers will be in love again with the original Mother Goose. There's little point in pretending that even prodigious collections of nursery rhymes can do without this one—it's a must.

Kirkus Reviews