Tomie DePaola's Mother Goose

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. Some of the additional verses added to familiar rhymes change the rhythm of the rhyme, and do not mesh. Many rhymes, including "Jack and Jill" have a different second verse from the traditional one. "Hush Little Baby" is incomplete. Many of the rhymes are non-traditional.

I don't even want my child to hear some of these poems! They talk about a man who wouldn't say his prayers so "I took him by the left leg and threw him down the stairs," giving a barber a pinch of snuff, and other such things.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully illustrated!
Review: No bedtime ritual is complete without Tomie's tome. My two toddlers enjoy the classic verses and its whimsical art. Other Mother Goose books don't seem to hold my children's interest. This one is a family favorite (and somewhat difficult to locate - I now give it as a baby gift to new parents since that's how I was introduced to it!) Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag well organized
Review: This book includes items that I remember (and/or own) as separate Golden Book stories; an example is the Three Little Kittens. Other items I know as folk songs e.g. "I had a cat and the cat pleased me". Others have longer versions than normally appear in Mother Goose although the additional verses are often traditional e.g. Jack and Jill; this trait is the one most apt to disturb the adults - they often wish to read the rhymes as they remember them. I would also expect some complaints about some of the violence - spanking etc.; I see these as an opportunity to introduce the child to the fact that the world is not composed of perfect people. Letting children hear or see something is not the same as approving the behavior.

The real strength of this volume is the thought given to sequence. Open to any page and you will see pictures which are compatible with each other, rhymes that are compatible, that create a nice flow. The illustrations are a wonderful mix of realism, animal-people, and humor - a pig so puffed it appears to float. While the pictures have a taste of old to them - especially those accompanying rhymes with archaic subject matter - the pictures are appealing to the contemporary child.