Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose [Hardcover]

Leo & Diane Dillon (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The numbers are on the loose--hiding and dancing, skipping and laughing through the rhymes of Mother Goose! It’s a good thing Caldecott Medal-winning artists Leo and Diane Dillon have helped gather up all these mischievous numbers in a stunning celebration of counting, rhymes, and imagination.

    

The rhymes, both familiar and lesser known, are ordered from simple (1, 2, 3) to more complex numbers, making this a collection to grow with. The illustrations are filled with surprising wit and whimsy. And this vibrant, playful volume is irresistible as an introduction to Mother Goose or as a new delight for her longtime fans.

     Includes a note from the illustrators.

(20071101)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In a rare jolly mood, the Dillons illustrate 24 traditional counting rhymes with page-filling arrays of capering animals, diminutive grotesques, and human figures wearing partial or full-head masks. The verses progress from 1,2,3, / the bumblebee to 4-and-20 blackbirds. Although the pictures generally provide literal depictions of the action, they have a sophistication that plays oddly against the simple language of the texts. The selection has its quirks, too: As I was going to St. Ives, has, perhaps wisely, been left out but not the lesser known, rather startling Charley Barley, butter and eggs, / Sold his wife for 3 duck eggs . . . . Parents uncomfortable or bored with the more child-friendly illustrations in such standbys as Rosemary Wells' My Very First Mother Goose (1996) and its many sequels might find this a more intriguing choice for sharing with their young offspring. Good to pair with Iona Opie's Mother Goose's Little Treasures, illustrated by Wells, reviewed on p.117. Peters, John

Review

* "As they explain, the Dillons “offer children an invitation to...playful, energetic, magical, even at times mischievous numbers” with rhymes both well- and lesser-known, progressing “from rhymes with smaller numbers to those with larger numbers.” Thus, their selection of a couple of dozen rhymes doubles as an offbeat counting book; but their sunny, crisply rendered art does much more: in honoring the “fantastical quality of Mother Goose,” the illustrators have created a sweetly surreal space inhabited by humans (often wearing masks: it’s a false nose that the maid in “Sing a Song of Sixpence” loses to a blackbird), animals clothed or au naturel, dancing numerals, a clock with arms to ring its own alarm, a boat-rowing fish, and whimsical sizes (a tiny elf catches a huge “hare alive”). Such intriguing details broaden the meaning on every page, and if the literal-minded can’t always find precisely the number in question (“From Wibbleton to Wobbleton is 15 miles”) in the pictures, there are plenty of other clearly delineated things to count and discuss. A charming and original vision that’s also just plain beautiful: this Mother Goose belongs in the permanent canon." (starred review)

(The Horn Book Magazine )

* “A wholly original Mother Goose book, the Caldecott-winning Dillons’ collection of number rhymes is so imaginative and playful that each reading yields something new and unexpected. . . . Inventive, artistically dazzling and full of wit, this Mother Goose collection is absolutely irresistible.” (starred review)

(Publishers Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152056769
• ISBN-13: 978-0152056766
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 11.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,226 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Numbers on the loose, June 5, 2008

By 

Sharon Burns "DinDin" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose (Hardcover)

This is a great book. It has a few Mother Goose rhymes I didn't even know about. My grandkids love it. We can read the rhymes, but we can also discuss the wonderful illustrations and make up even more stories. This is one of my favorites.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning to count with Mother Goose, April 30, 2009

By 

JBebe - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose (Hardcover)

This book is filled with Mother Goose rhymes containing numbers, and fun yet quirky illustrations with myriads of animals, people and objects to count.

The illustrations remind me of the artwork of James Christensen, as seen in A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James Christensen. There is just this whimsical quality to the pictures that is very unique.

As for the Mother Goose rhymes, there are many familiar rhymes in this book, but also some fun, unfamiliar ones. This is a fun Mother Goose collection with a twist! Very creative.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for early readers!, June 9, 2011

By 

MKJ - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose (Hardcover)

We first heard about this book when it was reviewed by Parents Magazine. For the past several months we have read it EVERY night. This is the longest that we've read the same book before bed every night. My 3 1/2 year old recognizes numbers, so she enjoys "reading" the numbers in the book. And because of the rhyming, great illustrations, and repetition, she has memorized all of the lines in the book! So now she "reads" to me and she enjoys it, and I get a kick out of listening to her. It's a wonderful book!