Mother Goose and Friends by Ruth Sanderson

• 01/08/2014
• no comments

Mother Goose and Friends
Ruth Sanderson
Little, Brown and Company (2008)
ISBN 9780316777186
Reviewed by Cayden (age 3.5) and Max (age 19 months) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (4/08)

“Mother Goose and Friends” is a 64-page compilation of all of the familiar nursery rhymes that we all grew up with and more!  From the familiar “Mary Had a Little Lamb” to the more obscure “The Purple Cow” the book is filled with rhymes that everyone will enjoy!

Cayden:  (“Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater”):  “Why did he put her in a pumpkin shell?”

Cayden:  (“This Little Pig,” when the pig is sitting in the corner):  “Is that pig on a time-out?”

Max:  “Naughty”

Max:  (“Humpty Dumpty”): “Fall! Fall!”

Cayden:  (“The Queen of Hearts,” when the Knave stole the tarts):  “People aren’t supposed to take things away.  They are supposed to say ‘please!’”

Mom:  “What was your favorite picture in the book?”

Cayden:  “I liked the mouse running down the clock!  The first one about Mother Goose is cool too!”

Mom:  “I think Max liked the ‘Humpty Dumpty’ picture since he keeps turning back to it!”

Max:  (Turning once again to “Humpty Dumpty”):  “Fall!  Fall!”

Parent’s comments:
What makes this book stand apart from other similar Mother Goose books is the beautiful artwork!  I did not think that this would be a book that Max, at 19-months, would sit for but he was entranced by the pictures.  The oil paintings that grace the pages are incredibly detailed and wonderfully capture the meanings of the traditional rhymes.

Some of the rhymes in “Mother Goose and Friends” were familiar to my children but many were new.  There were some in the book that even I had never heard before.  While some of the antiquated language is a little over my children’s heads I think that it is important to expose them to writing such as this.  In a world filled with Dora and Blue’s Clues, a return to the old-fashioned nursery rhyme is a breath of fresh air!