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The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes
With over 250 nursery rhymes, including both well-known favourites and hidden gems, this collection has something for every child. Beautiful illustrated by Raymond Briggs, the much-loved creator of the Snowman, this revised edition of a famous classic first won the Kate Greenaway in 1966 and is now available again for a whole new generation.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1963
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64 people want to read
About the author
Raymond Briggs
167 books243 followersRaymond Redvers Briggs was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who had achieved critical and popular success among adults and children. He was best known for his story "The Snowman", which is shown every Christmas on British television in cartoon form and on the stage as a musical.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
His first three major works, Father Christmas, Father Christmas Goes on Holiday (both featuring a curmudgeonly Father Christmas who complains incessantly about the "blooming snow"), and Fungus the Bogeyman, were in the form of comics rather than the typical children's-book format of separate text and illustrations. The Snowman (1978) was entirely wordless, and illustrated with only pencil crayons. The Snowman became Briggs' best-known work when in 1982 it was made into an Oscar nominated animated cartoon, that has been shown every year since on British television.
Briggs continued to work in a similar format, but with more adult content, in Gentleman Jim (1980), a sombre look at the working class trials of Jim and Hilda Bloggs, closely based on his parents. When the Wind Blows (1982) confronted the trusting, optimistic Bloggs couple with the horror of nuclear war, and was praised in the British House of Commons for its timeliness and originality. The topic was inspired after Briggs watched a Panorama documentary on nuclear contingency planning, and the dense format of the page was inspired by a Swiss publisher's miniature version of Father Christmas. This book was turned into a two-handed radio play with Peter Sallis in the male lead role, and subsequently an animated film, featuring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman (1984) was a scathing denunciation of the Falklands War. However, Briggs continued to produce humour for children, in works such as the Unlucky Wally series and The Bear.
He was recognized as The Children's Author of the Year in 1993 by the British Book Awards. His graphic novel Ethel and Ernest, which portrayed his parents' 41-year marriage, won Best Illustrated Book in the 1999 British Book Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 29, 2017
Every new child needs nursery rhymes in their life. Nursery rhymes are widely acknowledged to benefit child development in many ways, the obvious ones such as language and literacy development, but let's not forget numeracy, with all those counting rhymes. Simple rhyming structures lend themselves to memorisation, improving on cognitive skills.
It's a shame they seem to have gone out of fashion. Yes, they are old, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are not needed now. And yes, some do express some outdated values - especially some sexism. But I'm happy to censor if I see fit. But it is great to find a nursery rhyme book that hasn't been sanitised or rewritten for a "new audience".
All my old favourites are here, and all my wife's old favourites are here too. And there is a heap of rhymes that I have never even heard of before. Who knows what will be our child's favourites to hear and our favourites to read. The nursery rhyme book that I grew up with is still in my library, it was the first volume of the Childcraft library. The rhymes and illustrations still live in my mind and opening it up now is like visiting an old friend. But I did want something new for my child, something that is theirs.
The illustrations are old-school and beautiful, stylistically kind of 1960's in look. The illustrator is Raymond Briggs, author and illustrator of 'The Snowman' which I know is famous, but I have yet to read it. It is a beautiful hardcover that will hopefully see out lots of late night readings, clumsy page-turning by sticky fingers, laughs and silliness and eventual nostalgia.
After we purchased it my wife and I sat around for an hour reading new and old rhymes to each other. It was wonderful. And the baby wiggled a lot inside. I'll come back to this review in a few years and give you an update.
It's a shame they seem to have gone out of fashion. Yes, they are old, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are not needed now. And yes, some do express some outdated values - especially some sexism. But I'm happy to censor if I see fit. But it is great to find a nursery rhyme book that hasn't been sanitised or rewritten for a "new audience".
All my old favourites are here, and all my wife's old favourites are here too. And there is a heap of rhymes that I have never even heard of before. Who knows what will be our child's favourites to hear and our favourites to read. The nursery rhyme book that I grew up with is still in my library, it was the first volume of the Childcraft library. The rhymes and illustrations still live in my mind and opening it up now is like visiting an old friend. But I did want something new for my child, something that is theirs.
The illustrations are old-school and beautiful, stylistically kind of 1960's in look. The illustrator is Raymond Briggs, author and illustrator of 'The Snowman' which I know is famous, but I have yet to read it. It is a beautiful hardcover that will hopefully see out lots of late night readings, clumsy page-turning by sticky fingers, laughs and silliness and eventual nostalgia.
After we purchased it my wife and I sat around for an hour reading new and old rhymes to each other. It was wonderful. And the baby wiggled a lot inside. I'll come back to this review in a few years and give you an update.
November 16, 2018
The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes is a classic work of the genre, by two experts in the field of folklore, children’s games and traditional rhymes. They are Iona and Peter Opie. It is illustrated with line drawings by Pauline Baynes, who first came to my attention with her excellent illustrations to the Narnia stories, when they were first published by Puffin books in the 1960s.
There is now another collection of “The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes” collected by Raymond Briggs, but this version is still in print, and now called, The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes: The Opie Book of Nursery Rhymes. As a treasury of memorable traditional verses, for a general reader, I believe it cannot be bettered. It contains the favorite nursery rhymes which you would expect, found in folk literature. However Iona Opie and Peter Opie are two of the foremost authorities on children’s lore, and they have also gathered together less familiar rhymes, which have been passed down in regional or family traditions.
The book is annotated and indexed, both by subject and by first lines. It is both a useful resource for adults, which can also be enjoyed by children themselves.
There is now another collection of “The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes” collected by Raymond Briggs, but this version is still in print, and now called, The Puffin Book of Nursery Rhymes: The Opie Book of Nursery Rhymes. As a treasury of memorable traditional verses, for a general reader, I believe it cannot be bettered. It contains the favorite nursery rhymes which you would expect, found in folk literature. However Iona Opie and Peter Opie are two of the foremost authorities on children’s lore, and they have also gathered together less familiar rhymes, which have been passed down in regional or family traditions.
The book is annotated and indexed, both by subject and by first lines. It is both a useful resource for adults, which can also be enjoyed by children themselves.
March 3, 2022
an utterly adorable book filled with childhood nostalgia. it is also fascinating to imagine old nurses repeat those verses to the little ones.
December 10, 2022
Beautifully crafted and assembled.
July 5, 2024
Supposed to be "Mysteries of Mushy Mushy" a fable about how a mushroom helps save his local wildlife, ecosystem, and essentially the future of the planet by working with others to stop a wildfire.
December 14, 2019
Regular collection, footnotes in back.
August 6, 2012
"Bought at a fete in September '84" :D Absolutely falling to pieces!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews