The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Sarah Williams and Karen King

The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Sarah Williams and Karen King
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Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Lorraine McDonald
Summary: A combination of traditional and modern rhymes and song. Not one to store away for the grandchildren to inherit, but a good companion for your parent-child rhyme time sessions.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 128	Date: September 2014
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780192738660
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When it comes to nursery rhymes, what you learn at your Mother’s knee as a baby is gospel. Recently I have expanded my repertoire courtesy of Cheshire libraries excellent rhyme time activities, but at heart I still can't quite come to terms with the librarian saying 'washed the spider out as opposed to my mum’s washed poor Incey out'. Sadly, Williams’ and King’s compendium The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes doesn’t take my Mum’s side in this.

The title ‘Nursery Rhymes’ is a bit of a misnomer. I expected this edition to be rather more traditional than it actually is. True, there are rhymes a-plenty but there are also songs, complete with music. In my mind The Wheels on the Bus, seminal children’s song as it is, has no place next to Humpty Dumpty and the Grand Old Duke of York. None the less, I was pleased to see Noah’s Ark if only to confirm that the chorus is indeed ‘Who built the Ark? NOAH NOAH!’ and not what I used to innocently sing with great gusto age five, ‘NO ONE NO ONE!’

A good proportion of the rhymes come with diagrams to illustrate the actions. They are a bit small. Where I vaguely remembered the actions from my childhood, they served as a memory prompt. Where I didn’t know the rhyme and actions, some of the diagrams were a bit too cryptic to figure out whilst reading out loud. Both the music and diagrams suggest that this book might be a good resource for play group leaders or teachers with time to rehearse the act away from little hands tugging the pages. For a book with action songs in it, it’s worth noting that it is well bound, easy to open and the right size to hold whilst balancing a squirming tot, particularly if you are attempting to follow those rather complicated hand action diagrams.

All the songs and rhymes are illustrated by Ian Beck. Elephants and teddy bears feature fairly heavily. The palette is soft and heavy on the yellow and blues, giving a rather subdued feel to the book. They are by no means bad, but I don’t predict these illustrations will make the same lasting impression on my son as ones in my Ladybird nursery rhyme books did on me.

Importantly, there is a good range of rhymes in here. I enjoyed finding that Old Mother Hubbard has an additional seven verses describing the merry dance the (not so) poor dog leads her, pretending to be dead, doing a jig, and riding a goat amongst other antics. I also enjoyed Piggy on the railway, shouldn't be there which just goes to show that there is still many a relevant lesson in an old children’s rhyme.

For a more subversive take on the nursery rhyme tradition try Mixed Up Nursery Rhymes by Hilary Robinson and Liz Pichon

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You can read more book reviews or buy The Oxford Treasury of Nursery Rhymes by Sarah Williams and Karen King at Amazon.com.

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