The Real Mother Goose [Hardcover]

Blanche Fisher Wright (Author), Blanche Fish Wright (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years | Series: Real Mother Goose

For nearly a century, The Real Mother Goose® has delighted young children!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This might have been your Mother Goose book when you were young ... or maybe even your great-grandmother's! The Real Mother Goose has been teaching children traditional nursery rhymes since 1916, when the first edition of the book was published; since then, five million copies have been sold in the United States. The cover's familiar black-and-white checkerboard border is still here, as are Blanche Fisher Wright's delicate, old-fashioned illustrations. You'll find more than 200 Mother Goose rhymes, supplemented by an alphabetical list of first lines to help you locate your favorites. This 80th-anniversary edition of the quintessential old-fashioned Mother Goose book has a clothbound cover and reinforced binding to last through several children--and possibly their children. (Ages 2 to 6) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Cartwheel; First Scholastic Edition edition (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590225170
• ISBN-13: 978-0590225175
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.6 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Pluses and Minuses Versus Four Other Mother Goose Books September 18, 2009

By ReviewerWhoPrefersToBeAnonymous VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

If you're reading this on Amazon, you probably want to know how this book compares with other large-format Mother Goose nursery rhyme books. Here's my comparison of this book with four others.

This book (The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright, ISBN 0590225170) -- 305 rhymes. First published 1916. Typography and illustrations (almost all of which depict people as opposed to animals acting like people) are either "nostalgic" (if you like them) or "old-fashioned" (if you don't). It has the smallest page size (8.5"x11") of the books reviewed here. PLUSES: Probably the most well-known, "classic" collection. Includes uncommon rhymes (e.g., "Comical Folk") and longer rhymes (e.g., "This is the House that Jack Built") not in the other books. MINUSES: I compared the current (1994 Scholastic/Cartwheel Books) printing with a previous (1991 Checkerboard Press) printing, and the color in the illustrations is less saturated than before. Has some rhymes and illustrations that could be considered "politically incorrect" (violent, sexist, etc.) such as "Little Polly Flinders" (in which a mother "whipped her little daughter") and "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-Eater" (picturing a woman stuck inside a pumpkin). Multiple rhymes on each page could be confusing to young readers. SUMMARY: 4 stars.

Favorite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose by Scott Gustafson, ISBN 978-0867130973 -- 45 rhymes. Published 2007. PLUSES: Illustrations (oil paintings) are large, detailed, varied, and fanciful; think a combination of Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney, and Salvador Dali. My favorites include "Jack Be Nimble" with Jack as a grasshopper, and "Simple Simon" as a monkey and the pieman as a gorilla. Several illustrations offset the "politically incorrect" aspects of the corresponding rhymes (e.g., for "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-Eater" a squirrel couple serves pie to a boy in front of their pumpkin house). Some illustrations depict black and Asian children. MINUSES: Because only the first 1-4 verses from each rhyme is given, "Old Mother Hubbard" is missing a lot of verses. With the smallest selection of rhymes of the books reviewed here, it may not have some that your child may like (e.g., "Three Little Kittens"). SUMMARY: 5 stars.

Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose: One Hundred Best-Loved Verses, ISBN 0060081716 -- Published 2005. PLUSES: If you like Engelbreit's artistic style, this book is for you. A number of illustrations depict black and Asian children. Has some uncommon rhymes (e.g., "Three Little Ghostesses" and "Terrence McDiddler"). I found no violent rhymes. MINUSES: Some illustrations do not fit the rhymes well. As one example, Jack Sprat's wife appears to have some "lean" vegetables and fruits on her side of the table (though certainly a much larger quantity of food than Jack himself). As another example, "Three Little Kittens" shows the kittens in large mittens on a clothesline, while the rhyme calls on them to be losing and putting on the mittens. Some pages (22, 28, 69, 76, 90, 93, 112, 117) have two rhymes on them, which might be slightly confusing, but on the other hand it might also be fun for kids to guess the relationship between the two rhymes on a page (e.g., "Red sky at night" and "Touch blue" both deal with colors). SUMMARY: 4 stars.

My Very First Mother Goose by Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells, ISBN 1564026205 -- 68 rhymes. Published 1996. Organized into four chapters ("Jack and Jill," "Hey Diddle, Diddle," "Little Jumping Joan," and "The Moon Sees Me"), although I couldn't figure out why certain rhymes fell into certain chapters. The large majority of the illustrations feature animals acting like people. PLUSES: Interplay of text and engaging watercolor illustrations is more creative than in any other book reviewed here. For example, "There was a crooked man" has many small illustrations for the rhyme, while the text of "Pop goes the weasel" is contained within the large illustration. Font sizes vary considerably, from very large to moderately small, and the large initial letters of many rhymes are painted with something relevant to the rhyme (e.g., train tracks for "From Wibbleton to Wobbleton"). Extra information -- like tiny illustrations for cake-making under the main "Pat-a-cake" illustration, and four constellations' names for "Star light, star bright" -- add to the variety. I found no sexist or violent rhymes. Has some uncommon rhymes (e.g., "Mrs. Mason bought a basin"). MINUSES: Some illustrations may be confusing; for example, "Humpty Dumpty" is an actual (from-the-chicken) small egg that gets knocked to the ground, not a "living character" as in other books. Non-Christians may question the inclusion of two "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John" rhymes toward the end. SUMMARY: 5 stars.

Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever (Giant Little Golden Book), ISBN 0307155781 -- 50 rhymes. First published 1964. PLUSES: Endearing large illustrations feature animals acting like people. The use of pigs is especially nice (e.g., a clothed pig stealing a gingerbread pig for "Tom, Tom, the piper's son" and Georgie Porgie as a boy pig "snouting" a girl pig). Has some uncommon rhymes (e.g., "The cat sat asleep by the side of the fire"). MINUSES: Has some rhymes and illustrations that could be considered sexist (e.g., "When I was a bachelor" and "I had a little hen") or violent (e.g., "Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum" and "Taffy Was a Welshman"). There is a certain monotony to the illustrations, and all of them follow their rhymes fairly literally, so I'm not sure they would hold older children's attention well. SUMMARY: 4 stars.

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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite piece of my childhood. April 14, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I still have this book from when I was a child. It has been read a hundred times over and is the best Nursery Rhyme/Mother Goose I have read. The pictures of an old-world quality that should make anyone smile. The rhymes are a delightful mix of popular with the not-so popular. It is a classic.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic for a new generation August 27, 2006

By Jean Sue Libkind

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the book I remember from my childhood, sixty years ago. It was selected by my mother, a children's librarian.

In the past several years, I have given a copy to each of my friends in celebration of their first grandchild and it never fails to please, both for the memories it brings back and the delightful rhythms created by reading aloud. The illustrations are nostaligc but attractive to young eyes, with details to point out, a new one with each reading. And you'll be surprised at the "origins" of many familiar phrases and enjoy hearing these versions of old favorites. (It's as much fun for the grown-ups as the kids.)

I have long advocated reading to babies to get them used to having a book in front of them. If you give a child a love of reading and books, they can teach themselves anything they want to learn.

The Bookschlepper