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The Real Mother Goose
The Real Mother Goose
The Real Mother Goose
Ebook354 pages58 minutes

The Real Mother Goose

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The identity of Mother Goose may remain a mystery, but the timeless appeal of the fairy tales and nursery rhymes associated with this cherished imaginary author has lasted for generations of young readers. This collection includes more than three hundred of Mother Goose's best-known and best-loved nursery rhymes for children. Here, Humpty Dumpty has a great fall, Jack and Jill go up the hill, and the dish runs away with the spoon. Peter Piper picks a peck of pickled peppers, little Miss Muffet sits on a tuffet, and Mother Goose herself rides through the air on a very fine gander. Also included are favorites such as "Three Blind Mice," "Little Bo-Peep," "Hot Cross-Buns," and "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary." This collection, taken from the 1916 copyright edition, features charming full-color illustrations by Blanche Fisher Wright.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 1, 2017
ISBN9781512466720

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Rating: 4.167582357142857 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 headAnd poop went his hole.”That was printed in early Mother Goose books in England, but maybe 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 awayCome 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 hillTo 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 to read. I recommend this book for all children, especially those who love nursey rhymes!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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 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)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great collection of rhymes to use for a poetry unit.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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, 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A gigantic compilation of Mother Goose rhymes with beautiful illustrations. With over 200 different rhymes and stories, this book can never get old!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    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 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.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I grew up reading and hearing these nursery rhymes. There is something magical and very comfortable about the words.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This compellation of classic nursery rhymes is a great way to get younger children into reading.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
     This book is so simple with traditional rhymes, riddles, songs, poetry and stories. Its a great book to teach children about rhymes and poetry.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    First sentence: Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep. And can't tell where to find them; Leave them alone, and they'll come home, and bring their tails behind them.Premise/plot: This Mother Goose collection was originally published in 1916. Its cover (and interior illustrations) are recognizable by generations. There are hundreds of poems/verses. My thoughts: I enjoyed reading The Real Mother Goose. While I was familiar with some of the Mother Goose rhymes, there were so many that were new to me. The rhymes do vary in quality and relevance. (I'm not sure little ones need to be familiar with each and every poem in this collection in order to "know" their Mother Goose properly). Here are a few of my favorites: The Tarts The Queen of Hearts, She made some tarts, All on a summer's day; The Knave of Hearts, He stole the tarts, And took them clean away. The King of Hearts Called for the tarts, And beat the Knave full sore; The Knave of Hearts Brought back the tarts, And vowed he'd steal no more. (107) Sing a Song of Sixpence Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye; Four-and-twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie! When the pie was opened The birds began to sing; Was not that a dainty dish To set before the king? The king was in his counting-house Counting out his money; The queen was in the parlor, Eating bread and honey. The maid was in the garden, Hanging out the clothes; When down came a blackbird And snapped off her nose. (62) The Bunch of Blue Ribbons Oh, dear what can the matter be? Oh, dear what can the matter be? Oh, dear what can the matter be? Johnny's so long at the fair. He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons, He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons, He promised to buy me a bunch of blue ribbons, To tie up my bonny brown hair. (127)Do you have a favorite Mother Goose rhyme?

Book preview

The Real Mother Goose - Blanche Fisher Wright

This collection includes more than three hundred of Mother Goose’s best-known and best-loved nursery rhymes for children, taken from the 1916 copyright edition. The text is in the public domain. The text has been put into a new design to make this book appealing and easier to read in both digital and paperback formats. This book also features original illustrations drawn by Blanche Fisher Wright, which were published in the 1916 edition. The eBook contains a hyperlinked Table of Contents for navigation. The First Avenue Classics™ version is unabridged and has been proofed for formatting errors. Errors and alternate spellings found in the original book have not been changed. When necessary, artwork was modified to fit the format of this edition.

Copyright © 2017 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

First Avenue Editions

A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

241 First Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

For reading levels and more information, look up this title at www.lernerbooks.com.

In fixed layout formats of this book, the main body text is set in Janson Text LT Std 55 Roman 11/15.

Typeface provided by Adobe Systems.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wright, Blanche Fisher, illustrator.

Title: The real Mother Goose / illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.

Other titles: Mother Goose.

Description: Minneapolis : First Avenue Classics, [2017]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016006056 (print) | LCCN 2016024487 (ebook) | ISBN 9781512426021 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781512426038 (eb pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Nursery rhymes. | Children’s poetry. | CYAC: Nursery rhymes.

Classification: LCC PZ8.3 .M85 2017 (print) | LCC PZ8.3 (ebook) | DDC 398.8 [E] —dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016006056

Manufactured in the United States of America

1-41367-23311-8/1/2016

9781512466720 ePub

9781512466737 ePub

9781512466744 mobi

Table of Contents

Little Bo-Peep

Little Boy Blue

Rain

The Clock

Winter

Fingers and Toes

A Seasonable Song

Dame Trot and Her Cat

Three Children on the Ice

Cross Patch

The Old Woman under a Hill

Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee

Oh, Dear!

Old Mother Goose

Little Jumping Joan

Pat-A-Cake

Money and the Mare

Robin Redbreast

A Melancholy Song

Jack

Going to St. Ives

Thirty Days Hath September

Baby Dolly

Bees

Come out to Play

If Wishes Were Horses

A Man and a Maid

To Market

Old Chairs to Mend

Robin and Richard

Here Goes My Lord

The Clever Hen

Two Birds

Leg over Leg

Lucy Locket

When Jenny Wren Was Young

Solomon Grundy

Barber

The Flying Pig

Hush-A-Bye

Burnie Bee

Three Wise Men of Gotham

The Hunter of Reigate

Little Polly Flinders

Ride Away, Ride Away

Pippen Hill

The Winds

Pussy-Cat and Queen

Christmas

Clap Handies

Elizabeth

Just like Me

Play Days

Heigh-Ho, the Carrion Crow

A Needle and Thread

Banbury Cross

For Every Evil

The Man in Our Town

Abc

Georgy Porgy

Cushy Cow

Wee Willie Winkie

About the Bush

See-Saw

John Smith

Robin-A-Bobbin

Three Blind Mice

Simple Simon

Five Toes

Jerry Hall

A Little Man

Doctor Foster

Lengthening Days

Diddle Diddle Dumpling

The Mist

The Black Hen

A Candle

Miss Muffet

Curly-Locks

Humpty Dumpty

One, Two, Three

The Dove and the Wren

Master I Have

Pins

Shall We Go A-Shearing?

Goosey, Goosey, Gander

Old Mother Hubbard

The Cock and the Hen

Blue Bell Boy

Why May Not I Love Johnny?

Jack Jelf

Jack Sprat

Daffodils

Hush-A-Bye

Hush-A-Bye

The Girl in the Lane

Nancy Dawson

Handy Pandy

Jack and Jill

The Alphabet

Dance to Your Daddie

Rain

One Misty Moisty Morning

Robin Hood and Little John

The Old Woman from France

The Robins

The Old Man

Teeth And Gums

T’other Little Tune

My Kitten

A Plum Pudding

If All the Seas Were One Sea

Pancake Day

Forehead, Eyes, Cheeks, Nose, Mouth, and Chin

A Sure Test

Lock and Key

The Lion and the Unicorn

The Merchants of London

I Had a Little Husband

To Babylon

I’ll Tell You a Story

A Strange Old Woman

Sleep, Baby, Sleep

Cry, Baby

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

Little Fred

Doctor Fell

A Counting-Out Rhyme

The Cat And the Fiddle

Jack and His Fiddle

Buttons

Hot Boiled Beans

Little Pussy

Sing a Song of Sixpence

Tommy Tittlemouse

The Derby Ram

The Hobby-Horse

The Mulberry Bush

Young Lambs to Sell

Boy and the Sparrow

Old Woman, Old Woman

Two Pigeons

The First of May

Sulky Sue

The House that Jack Built

Saturday, Sunday

Little Jenny Wren

The Old Woman and the Pedlar

Bobby Snooks

The Little Moppet

Walnut

I Saw a Ship A-Sailing

The Man in the Moon

One, He Loves

Bat, Bat

Hark! Hark!

The Hart

My Love

The Man of Bombay

A Sieve

Poor Old Robinson Crusoe!

A Difficult Rhyme

My Maid Mary

Pretty John Watts

I Love Sixpence

Good Advice

Comical Folk

Tommy Snooks

Bye, Baby Bunting

Cock-Crow

Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son

The Blacksmith

The Three Sons

Two Gray Kits

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

Pairs or Pears

Cock-A-Doodle-Do!

Belleisle

Old King Cole

See, See

Dapple-Gray

A Well

Coffee and Tea

Pussy-Cat Mew

Dreams

The Little Girl with a Curl

A Cock and Bull Story

Myself

For Baby

Over the Water

Candle-Saving

Fears and Tears

The Kilkenny Cats

Old Grimes

The Man Who Had Naught

A Week of Birthdays

A Chimney

Ladybird

The Tailors and the Snail

Around the Green Gravel

Intery, Mintery

Caesar’s Song

As I Was Going Along

Hector Protector

Billy, Billy

Rock-A-Bye, Baby

The Man in the Wilderness

Little Jack Horner

The Bird Scarer

Mary, Mary, Quite

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