Dan Yaccarino's Mother Goose (Little Golden Book) [Hardcover]

Dan Yaccarino (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003 | Age Level: 2 and up | Series: Little Golden Book

Famed illustrator Dan Yaccarino brings his unique style to the familiar realm of Mother Goose. His witty, bold graphic scenes take place in the city, which give the rhymes a fresh perspective. In this book, Mary’s little lamb hails a cab to school!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yaccarino's (Bittle) inventive, sharp-contoured images of city life unify this assortment of 34 nursery rhymes, which would have benefited from a more organized design. The contents range from such standards as "Humpty Dumpty" and "Pat-a-cake" to lesser-known work. For a preachy schoolroom verse ("May we, like the clock,/ Keep a face clean and bright,/ With hands ever ready/ To do what is right"), Yaccarino pictures a diligent boy unaware of two classmates holding a slingshot and peashooter. Just as Rosemary Wells offers ironic visual information in her more elaborate Mother Goose volumes, Yaccarino creates one illustration per poem and adds playful details unspoken by the rhymes; polite men in suits doff their hats and prim women wear fifties dresses in his retro-urban tableaux. When the "Hickory, dickory, dock" clock strikes one, the mouse takes a nose-dive toward a sleeping man's open mouth. The beatnik cat of "Hey, diddle, diddle!" plays his fiddle on a park bench, oblivious to the cop chasing a dish with a purloined spoon. The smooth-edged, stylized images expand on the concise verse, yet no drop caps (except on the first page) or page borders lend closure to individual poems, and no index or table of contents serves as a guide. Since some spreads offer one poem and others feature two rhymes per page, it makes for an awkward progression through this collection. Ages 2-5.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–Yaccarino lends his unique style to an up-to-date urban Mother Goose with great success. His strongly colored, stylized cartoon figures fill the pages with fun: this goose wears hip sunglasses; Tom the piper's son is a cool clarinetist; the Old Woman and her shoe live in a city of skyscrapers not far from a certain pumpkin; and Mary's lamb follows her in a taxi to school. Included are several less-well-known rhymes, in addition to the old familiar ones. The book ends neatly: "The Man in the Moon/Looked out of the moon/And this is what he said, ''Tis time for all children on earth/To think about getting to bed!'" The little piggies that went to market, had roast beef, etc., are outlined on the blue endpapers. Well conceived and certainly well worth adding to nursery-rhyme collections.–Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Golden Books (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375825711
• ISBN-13: 978-0375825712
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 0.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,489,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan has written and illustrated over three dozen children's books and has had the pleasure of working with some of the most prestigious names in children's literature, including Margaret Wise Brown, Jack Prelutsky, Kevin Henkes and Naomi Shabib Nye. Dan has also had the honor of being invited to the White House to share his books and to participate in the annual Easter festivities.

Dan's also created and produced Nickelodeon's animated series, Oswald, as well as the upcoming Willa's Wild Life.

Currently, Dan is writing and illustrating more books and is developing more television as well as feature film projects.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for younger kids, January 1, 2011

By 

Helen Sun - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dan Yaccarino's Mother Goose (Little Golden Book) (Hardcover)

My one year old daughter really loves this book. Usually she is bored after several pages, but she wants me to read every page of this book. I wish Little Golden Books would publish a series.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Getting my goose, March 29, 2005

By 

Anne B. Levy "bookbuds.net" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dan Yaccarino's Mother Goose (A Golden Classic) (Hardcover)

Googling "Mother Goose" yields conflicting factoids. Maybe she was a colonial housewife who collected and edited old English rhymes. Maybe she was a French Queen with webbed toes (all that royal inbreeding, I guess) who loved a good story ... or the rhymes were or weren't meant as political satires. The explanation I found most satisfying is that these remnants of longer folk tales and narrative rhymes were passed down through countless generations and translated across languages and cultures.

Yaccarino brings a selection into our post-modern world with `50s-retro illustrations and a 21st century sensibility. Peter Piper picks chili peppers and Mary's little lamb stalks her by taxi. I would've loved more - where's the butcher, the baker and candlestick maker? And Mother Goose's poem is truncated to a single stanza. Maybe he thought little kids wouldn't sit still for more. Generations have proved him wrong.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great nursery rhymes, modern artwork, April 5, 2011

By 

Mr. V - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dan Yaccarino's Mother Goose (Little Golden Book) (Hardcover)

I decided to buy this book for my daughter a few months ago because she really enjoyed "Unlovable", "Every Friday", and a couple others. It is a very good purchase for the price. Yaccarino has a great knack of detail in each story and it continues to grab the attention of any child that I read this to. If you are a fan of any of Yaccarino's work, you will enjoy this Little Golden Book.