Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose One hundred best-loved verses

PreS-Gr 1-A popular artist has illustrated 100 nursery rhymes in her distinctive style, reminiscent of the work of Kate Greenaway and Tasha Tudor. Historian and critic Leonard S. Marcus provides an introduction about the staying power of Mother Goose rhymes, and Engelbreit's afterword discusses her illustration process. Well-known rhymes are included, along with some that will be less familiar to both children and adults. No more than three rhymes appear on any spread, giving the layout a clean, uncluttered look. The illustrations feature children and adults of various ethnicities and ages, although almost all have the simple rounded faces and bodies for which the artist is known. Engelbreit has outfitted her characters, both fantastic and human, in a variety of period clothes, from medieval to more contemporary. Most have an English look to them-little boys wear short pants and knee socks, and little girls wear flowered dresses and pinafores. There are occasional comic touches, like the pussycat coming back from visiting the queen in shades and a pink coat, and with lots of luggage. Endpapers feature old-fashioned pastel renderings of well-known nursery-rhyme characters. This volume is likely to prove popular with children and Engelbreit's adult following. A solid collection that would be useful in any library.-Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Engelbreit's saccharine art set in a bygone, idealized era (children of all races commingle freely) takes on one hundred Mother Goose rhymes, both familiar and lesser known. The rhymes are untitled--hence no table of contents--but the book ends with an index of first lines, as well as an exclamation pointG++strewn note from the illustrator. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.