How do children learn nursery rhymes?
I certainly don’t know how I learned them–but learn them I did. Whether I was taught them by my parents, read them in books, or heard them from an audio cassette tape doesn’t really matter. I learned them any way.
Allan Ahlberg’s books Each Peach Pear Plum and Previously aren’t nursery rhymes–but they draw upon the grand store of English nursery rhymes to tell their tales.
Each Peach Pear Plum is an “I spy” book in which readers are given opportunity to find nursery rhyme characters in the illustrations.
Each Peach Pear Plum
I spy Tom Thumb
Every layout builds upon the previous layout–so Tom Thumb is easily seen in the second page, but Mother Hubbard is hidden.
This is a fun, not too difficult book/activity to do with young children who are already familiar with a decent collection of nursery rhymes and children’s fairy tales. (And if they’re not, you should remedy that post-haste!)
Previously turns the nursery rhymes and fairy tales backwards, starting with Goldilocks arriving at home “all bothered and hot.”
Previously she had been running like mad in the dark woods.
Previously she had been climbing out of somebody else’s window.
It turns out that previously Goldilocks had run into Jack (of Beanstock fame), who had previously tumbled down the hill with his little sister Jill, who had previously met a frog-prince, who had previously…
I think you get the picture.
This is a fun, if somewhat inside-out romp through the repertoire of English fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
I’m enjoying Allan Ahlberg in my trip through my local library’s picture book section. Check out Reading My Library to read about Carrie’s trip through HER local library with her two sons.