Common Sense Media Review
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Wacky alt-nursery rhymes teach codes, creativity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
THE REAL DADA MOTHER GOOSE uses Blanche Fisher Wright's beloved 1916 classic The Real Mother Goose as a launchpad for all kinds of inspired madness with a method. Starting from the traditional versions of, say, "Humpty Dumpty" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," the narrator runs them through assorted transformations like word substitution, Morse code, anagrams. Or using a lot of similes. Or translating it to Esperanto. Making it a comic strip or a book report or a crossword puzzle. There's a lot of information in the notes at the end, from the history of Mother Goose and the Dada movement to details on the codes, ciphers, and language, and where to learn more.
Is It Any Good?
You think you're being silly, but working your way through Jon Scieszka's collection of fractured nursery rhymes, you'll learn quite a lot. The Real Dada Mother Goose invites you to explore what happens when you change things up a bit in well-known verses, whether you choose to encode them in Egyptian hieroglyphics or tell their tale in a book report. Julia Rothman's colorful, whimsical illustrations transform the classic 1916 originals to draw readers young and old into the fun, offering endless possibilities for further exploration.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how, as we see in The Real Dada Mother Goose, there are lots of different ways to tell a story. Take a story you know and love, change how it's told -- like making a comic strip out of the story in a book. Does the story change in the process? How?
Do you like using codes and ciphers to send messages? What are your favorites? Who do you exchanges messages with?
Do you like new and different versions of your favorite tales, rhymes, and songs, or do you prefer to stick to the originals?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Julia Rothman
- Genre : Humor
- Character Strengths : Curiosity
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Candlewick Press
- Publication date : October 5, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 7 - 12
- Number of pages : 80
- Available on : Hardback
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : October 31, 2022
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