Children's Book review

My Favourite Nursery Rhymes

By Tony Ross

Published by Andersen Press

Forty-eight of Tony Ross’s favourite traditional rhymes, with a CD to teach us the tunes. He sets them within a brief story of a small girl and her granddad, who tells her that these rhymes are centuries old, and based on real history.

At the end of the book her mum calls them, telling granddad – her dad – that it’s the child’s bedtime, an engaging device to show how the rhymes have been passed through many generations.

The illustrations combine Ross’s customary lively, humorous images with historical detail which hints at each rhyme’s possible origin. This is an enormously valuable (and entertaining) tool to help families and schools keep alive a tradition which is under constant danger of vanishing from popular knowledge.

Reading age: 6+
Interest level: 3+