Oranges and Lemons: Rhymes from Past Times

by Karen Dolby

A nostalgic and entertaining look back through childhood nursery rhymes and stories, explanations of their origins and meanings, and the controversies surrounding them

Plugging into the memories and knowledge of our earliest years, this collection gathers the most well-known and best-loved nursery rhymes, many of which we always seem to have known, yet struggle to remember clearly, along with some that may be less familiar. It examines the history of the rhymes, how they have evolved through the centuries, and the controversies surrounding their origins. Looking at classic favorites such as "Humpty Dumpty," "Hickory Dickory Dock," and "Georgie Porgie" will put readers back in touch with a time lost in hazy nostalgia, just on the edge of memory.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Literature, Classics

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2012

Reviews

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is pretty disappointing: I hoped it would have a bit more substance, but the theories about the various nursery rhymes are the usual ones and not given in any depth. Some of them seemed unlikely at best: the research was pretty thin. As a collection of nursery rhymes, it's fine, just not what I was hoping for.

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

It's nice to read a collection of nursery rhymes, but as I have other collections, this wasn't all that interesting, to be honest. In a few cases I felt like I learned something, but for most of them the explanations were primarily "we don't know when or why this rhyme was written but here's some conjecture..."

[Grockle]

What a load of rubbish. Lots of 'this might be about X but there's no evidence to support this'. It comes across as the author making vague inferences & a lot of unsubstantiated guesswork. There are no details & very little information. Disappointing.

[Lucia Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quote:

“Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.”

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun wee read. I wish I knew more nursery rhymes by heart! Surprising, how many are familiar to me.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hoped to enjoy this book but felt let down. At several points rather then following through with the promised explanation or theories about a rhyme you are left with a rather broad "it's historical" comment before moving swiftly on without proper explanation. On several points there were provable factual inaccuracies. For a start as a resident of Derby I can assure you there is no traditional football game held in town on Shrove Tuesday! I've never heard of a version of Oranges & Lemons based around Derby church bells - if only it was included so I could tell if any of the churches mentioned in it actually existed! I wanted to enjoy this book but was let down on most occasions - at least it was short I suppose!

[Mikyla Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tempted to only give 1 star, but enjoyed (at least) the walk down memory lane with some of the rhymes. Unfortunately, whilst there were one or two interesting nuggets of info in there, largely it’s a collection of commentaries that didn’t go much further than ‘it may have been about this or that, but there’s not really much evidence’. It may well be that this is truly the nature of trying to tie down the origins of rhymes and stanzas, however in general this felt a little wooly and poorly researched and for me at least was a bit of a drag.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers who say that there wasn't quite enough meat in this one. However, it was still an interesting read and introduced me to some rhymes I hadn't heard of before. There are definitely certain rhymes that are not as common in American culture, however having lived in Australia for the past six years I recognize that the culture here is much closer to England. Overall this was a fun read even if much of the "history" was just speculation and rumors.

[Ava P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting to read all of the nursery rhymes, and I can’t say I didn’t find some hidden gems and fascinating stories within this book, but it was missing the magic that I expected to find when I first picked it up.
It was very cut and dry factual information, and honestly not a lot of information at that! The concept for this book was good, but I was really looking for a book that captured the intrigue and wonder of ‘Rhymes from past times’ and this wasn’t it!

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Positively delightful. What a refreshing read. Bibliography in addition to written context contains immensely helpful references for those looking to expand their collection or simply read further relevant yet cryptic snd historic works.

[Kate N. Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting history of our best known nursery rhymes, lullabies and riddles.

[Sophie Bowns · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read!

It was interesting and the ebook was free on kindle unlimited. I would’ve liked some more details about the rhymes though.

[Danasha Carbone · Rating 3 out of 5]

English creative response tings

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A quick read. Not for me overall.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found this book to be very interesting. While I don't know many nursery rhymes myself it was interesting to read about ones from the past and I learnt some really interesting facts. This book keeps nursery rhymes alive and taught me some new ones as well as letting me find out about the ones I already knew. It's definitely a nice stocking filler, although also worked well as a 'dipper' book on my kindle.

[Katy Kelly]

Very informative, learned a few new rhymes and lots of information as to where they may have originated.

[Sandra Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable & interesting. Read it cover to cover in 1 evening!