Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose

by Mother Goose, Wallace Tripp (Editor)

A selection of Mother Goose rhymes including "Old King Cole," "Jack Be Nimble," and many other well- and lesser-known verses.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Classics

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Manybooks]

So yes, I have indeed both enjoyed and also very much appreciated that Wallace Tripp's extensive compilation of Mother Goose nursery rhymes for his 1976 Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose is both intensely traditional in textual scope and thankfully also not ever in any manner seemingly sanitised, not rendered more politically correct, more current, so to speak. And while I certainly can to a point understand that some if not perhaps even many of Tripp's inclusions might indeed make modern and more progressive parents (and children) potentially cringe a bit, I for one absolutely love that Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose is basically entirely orthodox, with the only (but to and for me still major and rather frustrating) shortcoming being the non existence in Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose of a detailed author's note from Wallace Tripp explaining origins and cultural considerations regarding the featured Mother Goose rhymes and which in my opinion most definitely should exist and especially so for those verses featuring actual or at least probable historical figures (Napoleon Bonaparte ironically appearing as a giant, that Hector Protector might represent either Oliver Cromwell or Richard Seymour, or perhaps even Richard Duke of York, who was Lord Protector under Henry VI and was killed during the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, and that Arthur O'Bower is meant more than likely to represent a combination of King Arthur and Wotan/Odin's Wild Hunt).

Now with regard to the accomapying illustrations for Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose (and these are also by Wallace Tripp), they are bright, colourful and often rather majorly parodistic and irreverent (with sometimes even much deeper and deliciously satiric meanings and considerations present). And while I have indeed generally much enjoyed most of the illustrations in Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose rather equally (although I guess I could do without the inclusions of the UFOS and the aliens that do appear once or twice and certainly are not my aesthetic cup of proverbial tea) personally, my hands-down favourite accompanying picture in Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose appears on page 87, where Wallace Tripp has clearly shown Lady Godiva (naked on a horse, with her hair covering up all of the potentially naughty bits, but still with enough bare skin showing that yes indeed, anyone can easily see that she is indeed riding nude through Coventry, and that this is perhaps also yet another cultural/historic instance that might well benefit from either a footnote or supplemental details in an author's note, as while I do know about Lady Godiva and her naked ride through the streets of Coventry to protest taxes, this should probably not be assumed to be the case universally, and I also do have to wonder whether said illustration might indeed and well leave readers not familiar with the Lady Godiva legend with legitimate and shocked questions as to why this particular image clearly depicts a woman riding in the nude astride a horse, and that sadly, said picture with its suggestions of nudity might very well also make Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose be considered a book to censor and to ban in US states like Florida and Texas).

Four stars, and warmly recommended, but yes, with an adequate and in my opinion also necessary author's note, I would definitely be ranking Granfa' Grig Had a Pig and Other Rhymes Without Reason from Mother Goose with five stars.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023)]

5* art
5* nursery rhymes

Nursery rhymes crack me up. Like the original un-Disneyfied fairy tales, they make me stop mid-sentence - "What the - ??" Can I even say this out loud? Do I really want to tell Squirt about a kid throwing a cat in a well? How do I explain what a drunken sot is? Is Squirt going to be racist because I read to him about Welshmen being cheats? What the heck is a cock horse?? (Okay, so I know the answer to that one, but you see what I mean.)

That being said, nursery rhymes are the foundation of the English literary tradition. It's our duty to indoctrinate our kids with this stuff. I highly recommend it! *bangs fist on table*

Besides, this collection has an awesome rhyme I hadn't heard before.

My little old man and I fell out,
How shall we bring this matter about?
Bring it about as well as you can,
Get you gone, you little old man!

So far, Squirt just looks at the phenomenal illustrations and doesn't comment. Which puzzled me, until I thought - he doesn't do anything I tell him to, why would he believe anything I read?

[Jennifer]

Hours of fun. Engrossing illustrations.

[Cheryl]

Cute, but imo really doesn't add much to the genre. I think that I tighter focus on lesser-known and sillier rhymes would have worked better - this reminds me of one of the bigger collections by Richard Scarry. Sometimes it got fresh/ creative, when the illustration for the Crooked Man reveals that he's a crook, a pickpocket.

But it just wasn't special enough for its Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Picture Book (1977). If it had ditched the distinctly British rhymes and old-fashioned costume and brought in more American verses, like Old Dan Tucker, and costumes like fur-traders' buckskins, for example, I would applaud it.

As is, I got too bored to even finish.

[Cornelia]

This is a great version of some the Mother Goose stories. The illustrations capture the moment perfectly making this rhymes laugh out loud funny. The picture of the wise old owl in the tree with all kinds of listening equipment corresponds perfectly to the verse, 1CA wise old owl lived in an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard. Why aren 19t we all like that wise old bird? 1D This version 19s wackiness provides the reader with a wonderful fresh perspective on the verses of Mother Goose.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob)]

Interesting collection of nursery rhymes. I've read more collections of these than I care to and I think after this one I'm just done with them. This one at least had amusing illustrations to go along with the rhymes and a few rhymes that adults may find amusing.

If you've read a collection of nursery rhymes before, than you will have read most of these. Might be a few new ones though.

It's a less sappy collection and the illustrations are mostly humorous.

[John]

A friend of the family bought me this book when I was 4 years old. If you have a young child in the house I'd strongly recommend buying it and reading it over and over again. The illustrations are delightful and my children know almost all the rhymes off by heart.

[Underwater]

If you're going to read nursery rhymes, read them from this book. The illustrations are fantastic and often enough very funny. Your children should have this book.

[Sam]

Just seeing the front cover of this has brought back memories. I loved this book as a child and borrowed it repeatedly from the school library. I'm pretty sure there's a poem in there that goes "Different people have different 'pinions; some like apples, some like inions". Maybe I am remembering that incorrectly.....but I loved the silliness of this book and the beautiful illustrations at the time. Now, some 40 years later, I'm sure there will be some poems and pictures in this book that seem politically incorrect, but I am still going to hunt down a copy for myself, if only for nostalgia's sake.

[Sherry]

Highly amusing Mother Goose which will appeal to both adults and children. The illustrations are a large part of the charm

[Clover White]

Weirdest fun I’ve had in a long time. Sad I don’t own it.

[Lisa]

Granfa' Grig had a pig and other rhymes without reason by Wallace Tripp (1976), 1st ed