Father Gander Nursery Rhymes: The Equal Rhymes Amendment [Hardcover]

Douglas Larche (Author), Father (Author), Carolyn M. Blattel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Father Gander offers non-violent, non-racist, non-sexist nursery rhymes for children. Boys and girls get equal respect. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1 Not a playful satire of Mother Goose rhymes, Father Gander's collection is of deadly earnest verse with a didactic purpose: "to amend nursery rhymes so they offer a more equitable world purview to children." The ideals that the author has defined as those which we all want our children to have are ones he feels can best be conveyed to children using the "socializing force" of poetry. The amended verses are true to these ideals. Sally Shaftoe, for example, has "gone away, to a job for equal pay." There is a Little Girl Green as well as a Little Boy Blue, a Joe Peep as well as a Bo Peep. About the only verse which doesn't include a counterpart from the other sex is "Hickety Pickety," which lays eggs for both women and men. Since the author is also against violence, Humpty Dumpty gets glued back together again. The family-planning version of "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" describes an old couple who feed their many children on health food. The final couplet: "There's only one issue I don't understand. /If they didn't want so many why didn't they plan?" Illustrations are colorful if somewhat bland, with several verses per page, and the same group of three smiling rocks appearing on each page. The sheer fun, horseplay, alliteration and exact rhymes found in Mother Goose are not in this rewritten version, but the message is here. Ironically it takes an "equal rhymes" book to show that in the Family Geese, Father Gander may be more concerned with the world of politics, but poetry is best left to Mother Goose. Yvonne A. Frey, Peoria Public Library, Ill.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 47 pages
• Publisher: Advocacy Press (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911655123
• ISBN-13: 978-0911655124
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,738 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars why father Gander is such a great book, October 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Father Gander Nursery Rhymes: The Equal Rhymes Amendment (Hardcover)

I am an 18 year old who got this book when I was little and i have treasured it ever since. This book only seeks to redo rhymes that can be bad influences on children not ones like twinkle twinkle little star this book works to help children feel good if you look in the illistrations you can find pictures of all kinds of people. people from different races and people with disablities all participating and working together. This book is a great book for kids to help promote values.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book, February 6, 2004

By 

M. Beaver (Tucson, AZ.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Father Gander Nursery Rhymes: The Equal Rhymes Amendment (Hardcover)

This book is wonderful for minority children! My child is Black, and can relate to the characters dipicted on the pages. Finally there exists a book of nursery rhymes, that does not ignore the fact that all children are not caucasion. 2 thumbs up I say!

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Father Gander, August 29, 2000

By 

Margaret Caton (Stone Harbor, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Father Gander Nursery Rhymes: The Equal Rhymes Amendment (Hardcover)

As a 70-year old grandmother and veteran of political correctness mandates, I was prepared to dislike this book intensely! BUT, I read it with my grandchildren, and now I feel - it is about time we had something like Father Gander! I am purchasing it for all babies from now on!