Very Short Mother Goose Tales to Read Together

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You

by Mary Ann Hoberman, Michael Emberley (Illustrator)

Join the fun as familiar Mother Goose characters take starring roles in this latest addition to the New York Times bestselling series YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ TO YOU. Designed with budding readers in mind, each of the tales is set in three columns with color-coded type as a script for two voices to read separately and together. These tales with a twist will delight and amuse young readers!

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Nursery Rhymes, Folklore, Theatre, Classics

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2005

About the author

Mary Ann Hoberman was an American author of over 30 children's books.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisting Nursery Rhymes around proved highly entertaining to Neo, especially when the tales are still kept in rhyming format. A fun way to end a weekend together!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last category I needed to complete for the 2016 BookRiot Read Harder Challenge ("Read a book out loud to someone else.). I read this one with my goddaughter during a recent visit and found it to be a fun experience. I've always enjoyed reading to her, so this was a fun way to read together and see how much she's learned so far in kindergarten :) Each tale has text for two readers to read out loud independently and a portion to read out loud together. All of the tales were familiar, but the author tweaked them slightly. We also started reading You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together before I left, but, alas, we didn't get to finish the fairy tales before I had to head home. I liked the concept behind the book and thought it was a fun spin on familiar tales from my own childhood.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books are wonderful to read with kids, it gives you both the opportunity to be story teller and listener at the same time. It also teaches children about taking turns, having their moment for the attention to be on them but about how to let others have a say. Helping them to work together.
And they are fun :)

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't know what is more fun the text or the illustrations!

[Liz Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Mother Goose Tales to Read Together is an exciting book that puts a fun twist on several classic nursery rhymes. Although the nursery rhymes have been around for quite some time, this book adds a new twist to each of them. This is an awesome book for young readers to read alongside an older reader/adult, due to the unique format. The book is filled with colorful and creative illustrations, great for keeping the interest of busy young minds. The book demonstrated several different literary components as well such as, alliteration, rhyme, and repetition. This book is an excellent way to introduce these concepts to new readers. I would 100% recommend this book for young readers. It's an easy way to familiarize children with reading while providing comfort from an adult reading alongside them.

[Jessica Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love when I pick up a book like this because it is full of quick read fables that are typically lighthearted and fun. This book would be a perfect book for a transition in the classroom. I really enjoyed the creativity that Mary Ann Hoberman uses in her fables because they exemplify a good use of rhyming while telling a good story. One of my personal favorites in the collection of fables would have to be "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most adults will recognize all the nursery rhymes in this book, but the authors added a little twist to each one. There's text for two readers to read out loud separately and then text to read out loud together. While this isn't a very good group read aloud, it would make a fabulous one-on-one read with a kid old enough to start reading or at least recognizing words, especially if they're familiar with the original nursery rhymes.

[Paige Hickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: Poetry
Grade Level: Pre-K - 3rd
This book is full of short mother goose tales. I think this would be a great book to read to children when teaching about different kinds of poetry. Some of the these mother goose tales may not be great to read to children, but some of them would be great to read to teach about poetry. The author made this a very interactive book by making it a "you read, I'll read" and put text in different colors to show the readers whose turn it is to read.

[Cristina B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Mary Ann Hoberman
Genre: Non-Fiction, fantasy, imaginary, adventure, fairy tales
Grade level: PK-3
Mother Goose reminds me of my mom, who loves to read stories to us every Sunday. While reading the book, I imagined myself as Mother Goose, and kids love listening to my makeup stories like Mother Goose. The book represents not only educational purposes but also gives parents an idea of how Mother Goose influenced readers and kids in real-life interactions.

[Krysta McFarland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This traditional literature story, good for grades kindergarten-2, is a book full of old nursery rhymes. I feel that this book would be a good one for the class room for many reasons. One of which is the fact that you could use it to test reading ability by co-reading this book. I also think that it would be a good one to read as a daily read to my class every morning to get them school ready.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's my first view of a book by Mary Ann Hoberman with the delicious concept:

YOU READ TO ME, I'LL READ TO YOU.

Between the author's lively point of view and the super-lively illustrations of Michael Emberley.

Funny. Witty. Creative extra verses to these familiar nursery rhymes. Such a brilliant concept.

FIVE STARS, FIVE STARS, FIVE STARS, FIVE STARS, FIVE STARS!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very fun rhyming book for children. It's fun to have different parts so that the kids can get involved and read along too. It is fun to assign each child a part and watch their face light up when it gets to them.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book from a great series. Wonderful for reader's theatre. My favorites were Jack & Jill and Old Mother Hubbard. Did not get a chance to do either of these during storytime, but hope to someday!

[Brooklyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not your ordinary Mother Goose rhymes! The rhymes are told from different characters and different points of view. At the end of each revised page, the original rhyme is written. Good practice for young readers, or could be used with older readers to discuss how the point of view changes a story.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this would be fun to read along with your kid. I think my high schoolers could do some very interesting analysis on some of these-- especially Jack Sprat. And I also think that some of our junior high students might like to use these for their speech competition.

[Jaden]

Picture Book

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You was very cute with many easy to read short stories throughout the book. Each one was color-coded for two people to read individually and together. The book also had pictures on each page to tie into each story.

[Savannah Domeyer]

This book has many different "short stories" where students are able to read by themselves, listen to someone read, and read with someone else. This can help those who are beginning to read to listen, or those who have anxiety reading out loud, they can read with someone else.

[Blanca Campos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very easy to read for children. Different topics to keep children engaged in their reading.

[Joy Keil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better with older children. Toddler not interested when I read it to her.

[Tara Dryml]

This book was about short stories which two different people can read to each other and some parts together. (Easy to Read and beginning readers' book)

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book to encourage the love of reading in new readers. Using the familiarity of Mother Goose Rhymes, Ms. Hoberman makes some entertaining leaps in character development.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of twisted and smashed up tales from Mother Goose that is sure to keep the readers entertained. A unique take on familiar tales.

[Rachel Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

1) No awards
2) Grades: Kindergarten- 2
3) This book has multiple Mother Goose nursery rhymes. They are in a format where two people can read the nursery rhymes together. The nursery rhymes have also been changed to accommodate the new format.
4) I like this book because the nursery rhymes are changed a little which is always fun to read and because it is purposely divided to allow multiple people to read it. The pictures are great and the writing is good which makes it a pleasant read.
5) One way this book can be used in-class is to help children work together to read and understand the story. If they do not work together and take turns, then they will not and cannot understand the text. A second way this book can be used is for a teacher to encourage struggling readers to read. There is only a small portion they have to read by themselves and reading it together encourages them to try.

[Emilie Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why this book?: Great read-aloud to add to any collection exemplifying shared-readings.

Genre: Short Stories

Theme/Keywords: Mother Goose, Short Stories, Share Read Aloud

Special Features: Shared Reading

Characteristics of quality: Great book about Mother Goose short stories where two people read to each other. Book captures children's attention because they are about Mother Goose stories.

Gender of primary character: Various animals and people

Race/ethnicity of primary character: Various Mother Goose characters

Cultural considerations: Wouldn't be able to grasp stories as much without prior Mother Goose knowledge

Language considerations: Wouldn't be able to grasp stories as much without prior Mother Goose knowledge

Open Ended Question: (Would have to ask questions after each short story).

[NS- Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry books for multiple voices is a phenomenon that is new to me. I find it to be so much fun. I also think it is a style of reading that would be extremely intriguing to young children. So many skills can be taught and practiced via poetry. I am definitely learning a lot about poetry through the books I am finding as well as the information in our text. I aim to search for more poetry books at various levels to keep in my classroom. I feel that with enough exposure to poetry kids could become excellent quite accustomed to it and become successful, fluent readers through the continued practice with these books.

[Terry]

Our preschooler doesn't yet read, but thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue. Being quite the literalist, it took several rhymes before she understood that the "new" ending was Okay, too. This was fun to read. We can't wait until our preschooler can read along … or that we've read it so much s/he knows her part!

Read our full review at the Reading Tub.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theme: building reading confidence and love of reading

Another Hobberman book that my students' enjoyed so I wanted to spend some time reading as well. Great twist on the traditional nursery written for two voices. I also liked that this book was a little more challenging for higher level readers (as a second grade teacher I have students who read a variety of levels so it is great to have different leveled books for an author study).

Use in the classroom: Have students search for other versions of their favorite nursery rhymes and see if they can rewrite it for two voices.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw a review of this book, and got it because Mary Ann Hoberman wrote one of my favorite children's books, "A House Is a House for Me." This is a wonderful book, not only because it has good rhymes to be read by two voices, but because it retells Mother Goose rhymes in a better, more peaceful way. For example, Peter Pumpkin Eater and his wife don't end up with the wife held prisoner. Instead, Peter switches to eating . . . and juggling . . . oranges, and his wife is his equal partner. It is the third book in a series of read to me-read to you.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like how this book is set up. I like how, there are two sections in each Tale that two different people can read from. I really think this would be a good book to use during Literature groups at the station with the teacher. The teacher could read one section and then the students can take turns reading the other section. This book would also, be a good book to recommend to parents when they ask what they can do to help with their children's reading abilities. I might even use this book in a different center after using it at the teacher center for students to read with a partner.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Join the fun as 17 familiar nursery rhyme characters take starring roles in this latest addition to the New York Times bestselling series You Read to Me, I'll Read to You. Designed with budding readers in mind, each of the tales is set in three columns with color-coded type as a script for two voices to read separately and together. Whether it's Humpty Dumpty negotiating with a doctor to fix his cracked shell, Little Miss Muffet inviting the spider to share her curds and whey, or Old King Cole enjoying a feline fiddle recital, these tales with a twist will delight and amuse young readers.