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Mother Earth's Children

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Presents a collection of poems featuring children representing fruits and vegetables from the garden.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1914

4 people are currently reading
43 people want to read

About the author

Elizabeth Gordon

133 books4 followers
There is more than one author with this name. This is Elizabeth^Gordon, author of children's books.

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5 stars
11 (37%)
4 stars
12 (41%)
3 stars
4 (13%)
2 stars
2 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Nabila Tabassum Chowdhury.
376 reviews276 followers
August 21, 2015
কয়েকদিন ধরে পুরো দৌড়ের উপর আছি। শান্তি করে একটা বই ও পড়তে পারি না। তার উপর পড়াশুনার চাপ। ভাল বই না পড়লে পড়তেও বসতে পারি না। তাই বাচ্চাদের বই যা পড়তে কম সময় লাগে, সেগুলো পড়ি। আমি এমনিতেও বাচ্চাদের বই বেশি ভালবাসি।

এই বইটা সবজি এবং ফলের বই। যেখানে ফল বা ছবিগুলোর পার্সোনিফিকেশন করে ছবি আঁকা এবং ছড়া লেখা হয়েছে। ছবিগুলো খুব বেশি মাত্রায় অসাধারণ। ছড়াগুলোও ভাল, তবে কয়েকটা সবজি বা ফলের সাথে ছড়ার কনটেক্স রিলেট করতে পারিনি বা সেগুলোর কনটেক্স আনরিলেটেড-ই ছিল।

এই বইটা পড়তে গিয়ে একটা ব্যাপার মনে হচ্ছিল। আমার এক বন্ধুর বাসায় এক্যুরিয়ামে ছোট বেলা থেকেই মাছ থাকতো। মাছগুলো ওর খুব পছন্দ ছিল। এক পর্যায়ে মাছগুলোর সাথে এক ধরণের বন্ধুত্ব থেকে সে মাছগুলোর পার্সোনিফিকেশন করতে শুরু করলো। যখন আমাদের স্কুলজীবন প্রায় শেষ শেষ তখন থেকে সে মাছ খেতে পারতো না। কিন্তু ব্যাপারটা আর শুধু মাছেই সীমাবদ্ধ থাকলো না, আস্তে আস্তে সে বেচারি কোনও প্রাণিই খেতে পারতো না। এখনও পারে না। একটু যা সবজি বা ফল খাতে পারে। এখন যদি এগুলোও ওর কাছে পার্সোন হয়ে ওঠে তখন বড় বিপত্তি ঘটবে। যাই হোক, এটা খুবই রেয়ার একটা সিনারিও, এটা কন্সিডারেবল না। এমনকি বই নিয়ে আলোচনার ক্ষেত্রেও রেলিভেল্ট না। কিন্তু ইদানিং একটা বাজে অভ্যাস হয়েছে, সব বইয়ের সাথে নিজের বা আশেপাশের পরিবেশের তুলনা করতে থাকি।
Profile Image for Monirul Hoque Shraban.
171 reviews52 followers
February 1, 2017
ছড়ার বই। প্রতিটা পৃষ্ঠাতে দারুণ দারুণ ছবি। সবগুলোই রঙ্গিন। একেকটা ছড়ার জন্য একটা করে ছবি। ছবিগুলো খুব মনে ধরে। ছোটবেলায় এমন একটা বই পড়তে পারলে বইটার প্রেমে পড়ে যেতাম।
Profile Image for Nayema Lipi.
22 reviews42 followers
May 18, 2015
ছড়ায় ছড়ায় এবং সুন্দর সুন্দর ছবির মাধ্যমে বাচ্চাদেরকে বিভিন্ন সবজী-ফলের সাথে পরিচয় করিয়ে দেয়ার সুন্দর চেষ্টা। বয়সকালে বইটা হাতে পাই নি। আফসোস।
তাছাড়া আমি যেহেতু ই-বুক পড়েছি, তাই পৃষ্ঠা উলটে পালটে পড়াটাও মিস করেছি। ছবিগুলোতে হাত বুলিয়ে দেখতে ইচ্ছা করছিলো।
কি সুন্দর রঙ্গিন সব ছবি!
Profile Image for Leah Markum.
333 reviews43 followers
February 17, 2017
Contrary to the edition options currently on Goodreads, this book was not published in 2001, or 2014, or others listed. This was published in either the 20s or 30s, and I have one of the older versions. My dad enjoys collecting classical children's books and was quick to save a few that an elderly woman wanted trashed. I took this opportunity to read it.

Every page has a quatrain accompanied by a chubby character--often a child--that is either dressed in a vegetable costume or is actually part plant depending on the age you read this book. This book of poems is surprisingly educational. It includes many fruits and other botanical produce that I only vaguely remember reading the names of but have never heard pronounced or seen in a grocery store. The lines also indicate the seasons the plants grow in, what they look like during different life stages, and their original nationality--plenty to learn for an adult that grew up feeding from a typical modern American grocery store. Yet at the beginning the omnipotent, matronly voices says all these characters are in the child reader's home garden and tended to by their mother. Congratulations Mother, you have an incredible garden!
Profile Image for Gina House.
Author 3 books126 followers
May 30, 2022
4.5🌟 Gorgeously illustrated with the sweetest poems about fruits, vegetables and grains. I was so lucky to find a very old edition of this book. Even though it's slightly coming apart and lost its outer spine covering, I still love it. I smiled over (almost) every single page, silly rhyme and cute, colorful drawing.

The only issue I had was that a couple of the poems and drawings are not pc (and one included a very negative racial term), but I tried to keep in mind that this was written in the early 1900s and is a product of its time. This is the main reason why I couldn't give this a full 5 stars.
Profile Image for Verna Seal.
456 reviews4 followers
January 4, 2019
LOVED IT - the illustrations are so beautiful! A great companion to my Bird Children book by the same author. Thank you Alex and Crystal!
Profile Image for Void..
130 reviews27 followers
January 25, 2024
What a jolly read. Beautiful character designs.

The only minus is there's a n-word jumpscare lol.
Profile Image for Allison.
76 reviews
November 2, 2009
Actually, I did not read this book, I read The Turned Into's by the same author, but could not find it in any listing, and could not figure out how to write it in. Anyway, this is a sweet collection of stories written in 1922 (I think) and centered around a little girl from the city who is staying in the country for the summer. Each story is about a different little "person" that she meets--katydids, wasps, luna moths, june beetles, frogs, etc. She is not afraid of any of these creatures, instead making friends with each one and learning that they each started out in a different form before turning into the creature that they are when she discovers them. My copy is a dicarded library book--don't exactly remember where I bought it--but the main reason I picked it up is the beautiful, Asian-inspired watercolor illustrations. I'm glad I finally got around to actually reading it--the stories are charming. Also, having grown up loving the outdoors and insects and other little critters, I appreciated the accurate information presented, as well as the fact that this pretty, girly little 6-year-old with her fancy dress and her hair all done up spent her days reading and tending her garden and was was just as pleased and curious to meet a spider as she was to meet a ladybug.
Profile Image for Fred Conrad.
379 reviews3 followers
February 22, 2015
Not exactly sure how to rate this one. A collection of quatrains (is that right? Four line rhyming poems?) about seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers and plants. Each has a matching graphic of a humanized plant. Sadly, a victim of it's time, there were a couple culturally insensitive zingers thrown in that are pretty disturbing.
6 reviews1 follower
May 5, 2009
All people can be classified as vegetables. Read this book over and over again as a child, recently bought a copy for myself. Decades later, I still relate people I meet to the characters in the book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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