The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes [Hardcover]

Iona And Peter Opie (Editor)

Book Description

Here is a brand new edition of the classic anthology of nursery rhymes--over 500 rhymes, songs, nonsense jingles, and lullabies traditionally handed down to young children. Included are all of your favorites, ranging from "Yankee Doodle Came to Town" and "A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go" to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," Jack and Jill" and "Old Mother Hubbard." And complementing the rhymes are nearly a hundred illustrations, including reproductions of early art found in ballad sheets and music books, which highlight the development of children's illustrations over the last two centuries.
With each piece, Iona and Peter Opie introduced a wealth of information, noting the earliest known publications of the rhyme, describing how it originated, illustrating changes in wording over time, and indicating variations and parallels in other languages. Moreover, in the general introduction, the Opies discuss the different types of rhyme and the earliest published collections, and they address such questions as who was Mother Goose and whether or not individual rhymes originally portrayed real people. For this second edition, the notes have been updated and extended in light of recent scholarship, providing an unrivaled wealth of literary and bibliographic information.
The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes is now more than ever an indispensable reference source for scholars and book collectors as well as a volume to be treasured by parents and children alike.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Iona Opie is a leading authority on children's lore and literature. With her late husband, Peter Opie, she wrote the pioneering study of children's culture, The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. The Opies have also edited The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book, and The Classic Fairy Tales.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 559 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2 Sub edition (March 19, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198600887
• ISBN-13: 978-0198600886
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries
  • #84 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Children's Literature Guides

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone interested in NRs and their origin, August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Hardcover)

This is the seminal publication on nursery rhymes, IMO. The Opies have been collecting information about nursery rhymes for more than 50 years. The second edition of their OD of NR was published last year (1997) and is greatly updated on the first. It includes indepth analysis of over 550 nursery rhymes. I've been unable to find a NS of my knowledge that isn't included in there.

It makes a great present for a new-born, or his/her parents more like!

27 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Getting dated., January 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Hardcover)

This is the second edition, published in 1997, of the original Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, also by Iona and Peter Opie, which appeared in 1951. The Preface to the Second Edition explains that the authors gathered many new references over the intervening four decades, and thanks several correspondents for still further additions and corrections. There is, consequently, much more information in the apparatus of the newer edition. However, the revisions are not thorough enough; I still get the sense that I am reading a book put together in the years after World War II.

For one thing, the Introduction appears to have been completely untouched; there are no references to any publication after 1951 (with the exception of references to two recent compilations by the Opies), and most date from the 1940's (for example, the reference on p. 3 to "two admirable Presidential Addresses by Lord Raglan to the Folk-Lore Society, 20 Mar. 1946, and 5 Mar. 1947"). Moreover, the discussion evinces a strange English elitism that may have seemed conventional six decades ago, but has not worn well with time. For example, the Opies seem to consider it a great fillip to the status of nursery rhymes that some of them can be shown to have been written by respected members of the English upper class; but we would consider these figures second or third-rate authors today (for example, Sir Charles Sedley). Also, there is too much blue-blooded in-group banter; for example, under "Bo Peep," one finds this assertion: "it is on record that in his early days Irving played the part of the wolf in Little Bo-Peep at Edinburgh." OK, who is Irving? If you want your book to be read by the generations that succeed you, you must not make allusions that are comprehensible only to your peers and coevals.

Finally, the book is unnecessarily difficult to use. I STILL cannot find "Pop Goes the Weasel" in here; either I am an idiot or the indices are inadequate. I think the latter.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nursery Rhymes, April 18, 2008

By 

Ts Fitzgerald "T.S. Fitzgerald" (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Hardcover)

I received a book "The Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes". It is a great book full of insights to the origins of all the popular and not so well known rhymes. The package arrived in Australia about 3 weeks before the expected delivery date. Well done Amazon.