The Only True Mother Goose's Melodies

The republication of the 1833 edition of these delightful nursery rhymes, filled with digital reproductions of the original illustrations, will delight children and parents alike. The rhymes contain hints of the history and culture of 18th and 19th Century England, and overflow with generations of tradition. Read these nursery rhymes with your children, to keep alive the love of literature, and to help them develop skills in reading and speaking. You will find within riddles, stories, alphabets, counting games, and lullabies. “HEAR WHAT MA’AM GOOSE SAYS!: My dear little Blossoms, there are now in this world, and always will be, a great many grannies besides myself, both in petticoats and pantaloons, some a deal younger to be sure; but all monstrous wise, and of my own family name. These old women, who never had chick nor child of their own, but who always know how to bring up other people’s children, will tell you with very long faces, that my enchanting, quieting, soothing volume, my all-sufficient anodyne for cross, peevish, won’t-be-comforted little bairns, ought to be laid aside for more learned books, such as they could select and publish. Fudge! I tell you that all their batterings can’t deface my beauties, nor their wise pratings equal my wiser prattlings; and all imitators of my refreshing songs might as well write a new Billy Shakespeare as another Mother Goose—we two great poets were born together, and we shall go out of the world together. “No, no, my Melodies will never die, “While nurses sing, or babies cry.” Caution to parents: The nursery rhymes and songs in this book were written for the children of the 18th and 19th Centuries; 21st Century children may be unsettled or disturbed by some of the images in the rhymes. Parents should read these nursery rhymes with their children, and help them to understand the history, traditions, and cultures of those times.