The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose

Lobel, A. (1986). The arnold lobel book of mother goose. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

The Arnold Lobel Book of Mother Goose is a beautifully illustrated collection of traditional nursery rhymes. Some well known nursery rhymes are included such as “Three Blind Mice” and “Rock-a-bye Baby.” Lesser known classics are included as well such as “Fishy, fishy in the Brook” and “When Clouds Appear Like Rocks and Towers.” My personal favorite is “This is the Key of the Kingdom” because it starts out describing the kingdom and then narrows down to describing just a basket in a single room of a house. Then the next page basically reverses the whole rhyme and builds back up to the kingdom. It’s cute and clever. This collection would be best suited for younger children to use as a read aloud or in small groups. The repetition and rhyming would be beneficial to help young students practice fluency and accuracy. For older students, the nursery rhymes could be used as a model for how to write and illustrate the rhymes. Using these models, the students could then write and illustrate their own nursery rhymes. After that the teacher could have students read their own rhymes aloud to the class to practice presentation and public speaking skills. This is a wonderful comprehensive collection of classic nursery rhymes that would be a good addition to any home or classroom library.

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