The Faber book of vernacular verse Book

PLOT SUMMARY

Schwartz shares a compilation of "folk poetry," which is essentially poetry that is passed by word of mouth rather written down, with no known author. Many of these folk poems may be familiar to readers ("you scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream"), with variations in some of the rhymes. As Schwartz explains, folk poetry can be just about anything'people, school, food, work, weather, the list goes on and on. Some of these rhymes may have been heard on the playground while jumping rope or bouncing a ball or are just silly riddles. One thing they all have in common is that they have existed for some time'whether it be from the turn of the century or even as long as 2,000 years ago!
CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Many adults will feel nostalgic when reading Schwartz's collection of folk poetry. Some of the rhymes are sarcastic ("Liar, liar, pants on fire, Tongue as long as a telephone wire"), catchy ("I'm the boss, Applesauce"), or downright silly ("Higglety, pigglety, pop, The dog has eaten the mop"). While some of the folk poems may not be familiar to younger readers, most will enjoy the nonsense and humor found in nearly all of the verses.

To give readers more perspective on the genre, near the end of the book Schwartz clearly explains how folk poems differ from literary poems, as well as how the poems sometimes evolve. Readers will be interested in learning that many verses originated a hundred or more years ago, when children were viewed as miniature adults and not sheltered from grievances of the times.

Truesdell's illustrations are found throughout the book and add even more humor to the verses. Her fun and whimsical characters reflect the silliness of many of the poems, providing a comic book feel.