The Neighborhood Mother Goose

The Neighborhood Mother Goose

Author: Nina Crews

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Copyright 2004

63 pages

Nursery Rhymes

As I was choosing poetry books and looking at the many different covers, I chose this particular book because it looked unlike any other Mother Goose storybook I have ever seen. Instead of the usual soft colors that are on and in nursery rhymes, this book has deep, vibrant colors. In The Neighborhood Mother Goose, the author chose many well known nursery rhymes such as “Hey diddle diddle!”, “Pat-a-cake Pat-a-cake”, “The itsy-bitsy spider”, and “Jack and Jill”. However, unlike any other nursery rhyme book, this book contains illustrations of real people playing out the rhyme. In all, the author chose to publish forty one nursery rhymes. Each page of this book contains a different nursery rhyme that many children grow up learning.

            The illustrations in The Neighborhood Mother Goose are done using photographs. The subjects in the photographs are mostly small children that are acting out the nursery rhyme on that particular page. The text is set in a formal placement and the colors of the illustrations are rich, deep, and vibrant. The reader of this book is really drawn in by the colors of the photographs. There is absolutely no negative space in this book; all of the pages are filled with illustrations. Many of the illustrations are focused on the child or children in the picture. The Neighborhood Mother Goose uses many different colors; however, the overall intensity of the book seems to be cooler with more blues and greens contained in the illustrations.

            This book is more appropriate for younger children that are between two years old and five years old. Preschool teachers could use this book in their classrooms and allow the students to explore the different illustrations on each page. Most teachers of elementary students could use this book to teach students about the different cultures around the world and the many differences between urban and rural areas. Most teachers could also use this book when teaching students about rhyming words and the many forms of poetry. Overall, this book is very interesting simply because of the illustrations. Most all students know the nursery rhymes, but exposing children to the interesting illustrations will help their imaginations grow.