In a Pumpkin Shell

by Joan Walsh Anglund

An alphabet book giving a Mother Goose rhyme for each letter, such as Three Blind Mice for the letter "M."

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Joan Walsh Anglund was an American poet and children's book author and illustrator, with more than 120 books that have sold over 50 million copies around the world in 17 languages.

Reviews

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh

[Kathy Brower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet rhyming book. And I love the illustrations. My 7 yr old son and I read them back and forth to each other, and then he read them on his own a second time. Love this book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

reminder: Tell the kids in advance that they're supposed to figure out why the letter goes with a particular rhyme.

Preferred: when all of the pages are in color, not alternating b&w and color

[Monique · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ABC for school and this one has an added component of nursery rhymes to accompany each letter and for the most part many were very cleverly done and some of my favorites were C for the clock in Hickory Dickory Dock and S for shoe with the old woman who lived in a shoe..there were a few missteps in my opinion with B for bed indicating Little Boy Blue and the horn he blows to wake everyone up; the letter E which is not really a nursery rhyme but an adage I believe is contributed to Benjamin Franklin (?) about being Early to bed and Early to rise making a man healthy, wealthy and wise and then there was omission of poems for letters XYZ. The illustrations tie into the book with most in black and white but a few highlighted in color most notably the two-page poem for N that tells of a little nut tree and a princess that is rather confusing. Overall majority of the poems are easy to read, recognizable from songs and schoolyard games and chants though not really the instructional device for teaching ABCs more of locating coincidences in letters in words.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this book at an antiquarian book fair and was immediately drawn to the beautifully illustrated cover. Yes, I judged a book by its cover, but that's okay when it's a picture book. This is a collection of nursery rhymes, illustrated with sweet drawings, most of them in black and white, but some in full color. I was already planning to buy the book just from the cover alone, but when I realized the nursery rhymes were arranged in alphabetical order, making this an ABC book, I think I actually shed tears of joy.

[Makenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because of how it incorporates folk tales with the ABC's. This book would be perfect to read to a kindergarten class when going over the alphabet. For example, the letter C has the tale, "Hickory, dickory, dock! The mouse ran up the clock; The clock struck one, and down he run, Hickory, dickory, dock." This makes it fun for the students to learn the letters and hear the sounds because they can say it aloud with the teacher and it engages them with the story. I love books that can be used for great lessons in the classroom and I would definitely use this one.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea from where I have obtained this book but I've read it countless times. I even know some of them by heart and just this morning. I quoted one for my baby girl. I just love this one...

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Awesome illustrations.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book to read to kids. They copped out at the end and didn't do anything for X, Y, and Z. I felt cheated....