Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose Favorites Book

"Adorable."

Ages 3-5. Because this is a board book, this is a much-abbreviated version of classic Mother Goose tales. When I first started reading it, I felt a little confused and wondered if my confusion was due to the fact that this was a shortened version. I picked up the complete version from the public library the following day, and while that version did provide more Mother Goose rhymes, it did not provide any more clarity on the meaning of the rhymes. After the comparison was verified, I went into the reading of this collection with an open mind (and less critical vision). The verdict: it's an adorable collection that achieves the goal I think it originally set out to do: introduce rhyme and stories without too deep of meanings to children.

The illustrations in this small Mother Goose companion are cute. I was unfamiliar with dePaola's work prior to reading this collection, and according to, well, the internet he is one of the better Mother Goose illustrators. While most times the illustrations did enhance the reading of the story, other times I still found myself just as confused. On some pages, it appeared that they (the publisher? dePaola himself?) tried to jam too many rhymes onto one page to save space. I think stories like this would be best digested by younger children (the intended audience) one at a time, and instead in some places as many as 3 rhymes were featured on a single board page.

On its second reading, I can understand the timeless allure of Mother Goose. As I continued my reading, I found that I actually knew many of these rhymes by heart without realizing they were Mother Goose tales (I blame my own ignorance and my hippie parents' choices of alternative children's books).

dePaola, Tomie. Tomie's Little Mother Goose. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985.