Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose

Based wherever possible on the classic rhymes as collected by Peter and Iona Opie, dePaola opens his own collection with the tale of Old Mother Goose and her hapless son Jack. Thereafter, longer tentpole tales are spaced regularly throughout, separated from one another by shorter stories, with some taking up a page with text and illustration while other tiny verses are arranged several to a page, sometimes spanning openings with similarly-themed illustrations. dePaola’s illustrations are filled with simple, muted hues with a distinct lack of shadow which, in combination with a use of line, promotes the human scale of the narratives -- fuzzy even at its sharpest -- and creates an atmosphere of gentleness which would seem to suit the familiar and often archaic lines even when they veer into the horrific. The young reader will be drawn in by the friendly, engaging, and expressive images, and is likely to construct expectations of the stories before beginning to read them. However, reading from Mother Goose may prove challenging despite the simple diction and rhyming structure due to the frequent use of approximate rhymes and dated cultural references. Nonetheless, the collection fittingly concludes with a series of time-honored lullabies.

Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose by Tomie dePaola; illus. by the author
Preschool
Putnam
128 pp.
Published in 1985
ISBN 978-0399212581
$25.99

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