Monday is for Nursery Rhymes

When Henry was born, we were blessed with two volumes of Nursery rhymes edited by Iona Opie and Illustrated by the very talented Rosemary Wells. Look up Rosemary's other books, I adore her characters. We have a couple others by her but I couldn't share this post with them. Amy gave us the first two volumes, which eventually fell apart. In truth, half of our library has been given to us by Amy who was an associate editor of Children's Pub. at Candlewick Press. Now that she is managing editor at Harcourt, Houghton and Co. we will miss those wonderful Candlewick books! We were among the lucky few to snag a limited edition double volume set after our first two perished.  

I love nursery rhymes. Henry, being the first child, benefited greatly from this near obsession of mine. I think that if you pick the first line of any of these rhymes, I could finish it for you. 
Iona chose the most magical rhymes for this book.

Rosemary Wells' interpretations are refreshing, creative, gorgeous and playful.

As a preschool teacher I can attest to the fact that rhymes are a great way for children to learn about rhythm, music etc. and a creative way to help children ease into a transition. I had a dozen or so rhymes up my sleeve to get Henry from one place/activity to another without  a tantrum. 


This is  book that I actually love to sit down and read to my kids. 


"Up the wooden hill..." I used to recite every time I brought Henry to my mothers on mornings when I had to work. Before long, he was chanting it with me...