Best Mother Goose

Between the Lines: Mother Goose picture books that top the pecking order

Tuesday, 16 July, 2013, 9:56am

Annie Ho

Among her dozens of picture books, my younger daughter often makes a beeline for our tattered book of nursery rhymes and asks me to read it to her at least once a day.

While a two year-old tottering back to our cosy reading spot with a two-pound book in her arms is an adorable sight, whenever she asks, "Mama, can you read Mother Goose?", I always reply, " Mother Goose again?!" It has become such a recurring event that she now refers to this book as "Mother Goose Again".

In fact, the book's title is Mother Goose's Story Time Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated by Axel Scheffler with stories by Alison Green, it begins with a story introducing Mother Goose and her three goslings.

There are 90 nursery rhymes, interspersed with stories about the goose family. I know the music to about half of these nursery rhymes, so we usually sing rather than recite them.

There are conflicting reports of the origin of Mother Goose, the imaginary author of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, but references to her can be found as early as the 17th century.

In 1951, husband and wife team Iona and Peter Opie published The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes.

Iona Opie is an authority on children's rhymes and playground games, and author of the bestseller My Very First Mother Goose, illustrated by Rosemary Wells.

Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever is another well-loved version that has been in print for almost 50 years. The large illustrations, with most of the nursery rhymes on a two-page spread, depict animals dressed as humans.

Both Wells and Scarry are illustrators who create vibrant and joyful anthropomorphic characters: bunnies and cats for Wells; pigs and bears for Scarry.

Blanche Fisher Wright's The Real Mother Goose was first published in 1916. Evoking old-fashioned Victorian children at play, this keepsake has sold five million copies in the United States and makes a wonderful first book for any child's library.

Although Scott Gustafson is a contemporary artist, the illustrations in hisFavourite Nursery Rhymes from Mother Goose are reminiscent of those from Fisher Wright's era.

His interpretation of nursery rhymes is fanciful and old-fashioned, but also depicts modern culture by including illustrations of children of different ethnicities.

The rhymes are not printed in full; Gustafson selects a few lines to complement his illustrations. This book with large illustrations but sparse text will be treasured by art lovers.

Any grimace I may make quickly vanishes at the joy of cuddling for story time, as I gamely accept my children's book choices: my elder daughter eyesPinkalicious and my younger daughter asks for Mother Goose … again.

Annie Ho is board chairwoman of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, a non-profit organisation dedicate to improving children's literacy by reading aloud to them bringmeabook.org.hk

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Mother Goose books top the pecking order

Chart a course to the world's best book museums

Between the lines: Explore interesting book museums around the world

Tuesday, 02 July, 2013

Annie Holife@scmp.com

Eric Carle is the famed author and illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillarand Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? as well as 70 other picture books for the very young.

His collage technique, using bright colours, is instantly recognisable. After a long and successful career, Carle could have settled into a comfortable retirement. Instead, in 2002 and at the age of 73, he and his wife founded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The Museum Book is a good introduction to the history of museums and what museums are for

Located midway between Boston and New York City, the museum houses an extensive collection of more than 10,000 picture book illustrations, as well as three art galleries, an art studio, a theatre, and picture book and scholarly libraries.

It also organises educational programmes for families, scholars, educators and children.

The picture book library has more than 3,000 picture books from around the world. But the big draw is the bookshop, where visitors can buy contemporary and hard-to-find picture books.

If your family holiday takes you to that part of the United States, then you must try to visit the museum's special exhibition this month called "Seriously Silly: A Decade of Art and Whimsy by Mo Willems".

Willems is one of my favourite children's book creators, and he will be signing books on specific dates during the exhibition.

The Pioneer Valley area where the museum is located is also home to a number of other museums suitable for family fun: the Dr Seuss National Memorial and Springfield Museum, the Norman Rockwell Museum, Amelia Park Children's Museum, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory.

If you are on the other side of the Atlantic this summer, then you may consider heading to northern England to visit Seven Stories, the national centre for children's books.

Located in Newcastle upon Tyne, the centre is housed in a seven-storey building, and its special archives contain draft illustrations, and handwritten author's notes and correspondence.

With a mission to make books an essential part of every child's life, the existence and accessibility of Seven Stories is especially meaningful in this northeastern region, where the number of children living in poverty is double the average in England.

Meanwhile, The Museum Book: A Guide to Strange and Wonderful Collections by Jan Mark is a good introduction to the history of museums and what museums are for.

And for those staying in Hong Kong, the summer months bring plenty of book-related activities.

The Hong Kong Book Fair runs from July 17-23 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, and there will be special activities and events for children and young adults. Besides stocking up on picture books from Taiwanese publishers and speciality books such as those on religion or cooking, it's also the best one-stop shop for stationery and art supplies.

Another annual summer event is the Hong Kong Public Libraries' "Summer Reading Month", with music and puppet shows, storytelling sessions and parent-child reading activities.

A book-themed summer vacation awaits!

Annie Ho is the board chairwoman of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, a children's literacy charity (bringmeabook.org.hk)

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Chart a course to the world's bestbook museums