Mother Goose: A Collection of Nursery Rhymes

by Brian Wildsmith

Almost every one of the 87 nursery rhymes appears on its own page, accompanied by a vibrant, full-color painting. The collection includes "Humpty Dumpty," "Little Bo-Peep," "Jack Sprat," and many more old favorites, along with some less familiar rhymes. A convenient index of first lines is included. A lovely addition to a home or school library.

Genres: Picture Books, Nursery Rhymes, Poetry, Childrens

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Brian Wildsmith (1930-2016) was raised in a small mining village in Yorkshire, England, where, he says, "Everything was grey. There wasn't any colour. It was all up to my imagination. I had to draw in my head..."

He won a scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art where he studied for three years. For a while he taught music at the Royal Military School of Music, but then gave it up so that he could paint full time.

He has deservedly earned a reputation as one of the greatest living children's illustrators. In 1962, he published his first children's book, ABC, for which he was awarded the Kate Greenaway Medal, Britain's equivalent to the Caldecott Medal. He was also a runner up for this medal for The Owl and the Woodpecker.

Wildsmith has said: "I believe that beautiful picture books are vitally important in subconsciously forming a child's visual appreciation, which will bear fruit in later life."

In 1994, the Brian Wildsmith Art Museum was established in Izukogen, a town south of Tokyo, Japan. Almost one and a half million people visited a traveling exhibition of his work in 2005. Eight hundred of his paintings are on loan to the museum.

Brian is married, has four children, and currently lives in the south of France.

— Source

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, I love nursery rhymes and most of these have a familiar enough tune to be able to sing them. When you've not seen small children for a few years these are really fun to revisit. Although some nursery rhymes aren't suitable for small children, most are great pieces of social history and bring back so many memories. My personal favourite is Oranges and Lemons, this was a favourite playground game, two children would hold their arms up with palms touching like an arch and we would run through as we sang the song. When it got to the part of the song that chops off your head their arms would come down and then you would whisper into one of these two's ears if you wanted to be oranges or lemons (they each picked before you started) and then whoever had picked what you had chosen you would stand behind them. When everyone had been caught and chosen oranges or lemons you would end in a tug of war. I loved play ground games, I always wonder how many of these rhymes the average teenager would remember today and go on in the future to teach their children. I hope these survive.

[J. Wootton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I often collect illustrated folktale books, but Wildsmith's art style didn't really appeal to me, so I didn't keep this one.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Mother Goose collection illustrated by Brian Wildsmith in his colorful palate of colors features 86 individual rhymes illustrated one to a page with the exception of two double page spreads that feature several one stanza rhymes.
Of the 86 rhymes there were 16 unfamiliar to me. Happy to see some long ago childhood favorites of mine, Bobby Shafto, curly Locks, and Little Polly Flinders.

[Melissa Namba · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of familiar nursery rhymes, but also a lot that I had never heard of. a good collection!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading all of the different versions of mother goose and comparing and contrasting them. This was very cute and fun to read really enjoyed it.

[The Bauchler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember the illustrations more than the tales themselves - but it has been quite a while:)

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Summary: Collection of Mother Goose rhymes illustrated by artist Brian Wildsmith.

Review: Fun and colorful illustrations accompany the traditional nursery rhymes. Unfortunately the strangeness of the ryhmes is only accentuated by the sylistic illustrations, making them somewhat inaccessible for young readers. The index of the first lines in the back is a nice touch.

"The artist's unconventional yet sophisticated illustrations [are] filled with luminescent color." --The Horn Book

"A sprightly collection."--Publishers Weekly

[Katey · Rating 2 out of 5]

CIP/Summary: a collection of Mother Goose nursery rhymes

Wildsmith's illustrations dreary and abstract illustrations are unlikely to attract young readers to these classic rhymes. The selection of rhymes includes many that will not make sense for children of this century without a good deal of explaining and a dictionary for Olde English.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures match the stories from Mother Goose and have a lot of colors. My favorite to look at is from "Hush-a-bye, baby, on the tree top" The baby depicted is in a crib on top of the tree surrounded by birds and owls.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Wildsmith is one of my favorite illustrators. Lots of variety of rhymes here. I have never heard some of them.

[Library Quine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 80+ nursery rhymes. No surprises, but nice illustrations.

[Jacquelyn Arbegast]

This book is full of many well known nursery rhymes. They have great illustration and have a sing song type of vocalization.