This Old Man

by Pam Adams (Illustrator), Frank Nichols

This illustrated version of the traditional counting song tells all ten things this old man played. Features die-cut pages which reveal simple addition equations.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nursery Rhymes, Fiction, Counting, Classics, Storytime

16 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Pam Adams (1919-2010) was a British children's book author and illustrator, and a graphic designer. Born in Swindon in 1919, she was educated at the Swindon Art College and at the Central School of Art in London, and worked for many years as a graphic designer in the advertising field. In the 1970s she returned to Swindon, and teamed up with Michael Twinn, who had recently founded the publishing house Child’s Play. Her first children's book, There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly, was published in 1972, and remains a bestseller for the publishing house. After writing and illustrating countless other picture-books, Adams died in 2010, at the age of 91.

Reviews

[Wayne Farmer]

These board books are classics from when I was a child. Great to sing along with. The only real criticism is that the book appears to finish at 6 with a page showing all the old men, but then you turn to the last page and suddenly you have the rhymes for 7-10 all squashed together on the same page without the same treatment as the previous numbers - if you're singing along it ruins your flow a bit and its a shame the other numbers aren't as visual.

[Emmi Umbach]

“This Old Man” by Pam Adams. Published by Child’s Play (2007).
1. Awards Received: None
2. Appropriate Grade Levels: Preschool and Kindergarten
3. Summary: There are ten different “old men” who sing about a different item they play nick nack on. The items they play on, all rhyme with the number they are assigned.
4. Review: This book has colorful pictures and a very playful tune. The rhymes are always very familiar words that the children will know which makes it more fun for them. I also liked that it they showed simple addition +1 on each page.
5. Use in the classroom:
a. The teacher can have a picture of everything the old men play nick nack on and having each child pay a man.
b. The teacher can read this book for multiple days and after a few days, let the children guess the rhymes that are coming up by asking “what rhymes with *insert number*”?
c. The students can also say which number will come next as a way of practicing their counting
d. The pages have addition equations written. The teacher can use math vocabulary such as “addition” and “more than”.

[Vivian]

Our library pre-school age story time crowd was at a loss when it came to doing the actions to this song. We had to s l o w down the actions. We "clapped" for "knick-knack". We "slapped" legs for "paddy whack". We "pointed a thumb" over our shoulder for "give a dog a bone". We "rolled" arms for "came rolling home". I suppose we could have "made a beard" motion with a hand for "this old man", but I didn't think of that.

We tried to get the kids to guess what rhymed with the number. For instance "one" and "thumb" by holding up a thumb and pointing to it with the other hand. Easy? Nope. Same with "two" and "shoe" and "three" and "knee". At which point we bailed out.

Just the same, it provided a rollicking start to our show.

[jacky]

This was read at story time this week. The librarian had a big book version. The words were slightly different in a few places from how I learned them, but otherwise my husband and I could easily sing along. I liked the cut out holes, especially the numbers. And, this book also shows how the numbers already said add up to the new number on each page. (For example, the five page has 2+2+1 and 2+3 and 1+4).

[Libby]

This is much too long for my one-year-old son. It helps that I know the tune and can sing it, but he can never make it through the whole book, despite the fun holes to stick his fingers through. The fact that illustrator includes addition and the pages are so busy with illustration makes me think this book is intended for a much older child- maybe 5 years old.

[Rochelle Sondae]

My favorite part about this book was singing it aloud with my Grandma's sister and her grandson. She kept getting all tangled up in the chorus. It is the song I grew up with illustrated and bound with die-cut peek-a-boo pages.

[Brittani Jordan]

I like this book because it connects with counting for younger students. This book has great visual aids for counting and the pictures are big. This book also has circles and addition to help with practicing.

[Camille]

A song book, so that means you can sing-along or just read the lyrics. Bigger cutouts and illustrations than most of the Classic Books With Holes series, which makes it great for a small group audience. And if you've ever sung This Old Man then you know the possibilities for interaction are great.

[Janice]

I think this book is fun, but for some reason my daughter seems a little afraid of the old men

[Jenny]

Wasn't a big fan of the pictures but I did like the counting/holes.

[Susan]

die-cuts are interesting, but get a little busy and confusing as the book progresses.

[Cws]

JENF-Ada

[Denise]

childhood favorite

[Bridget]

Oversized book

[Joalby Phoenix]

This guy is awesome. He don't care who you are or what you're going through in life. He's like "Whatever. You deal with you. I'm gonna be playing knick knack on all your stuff"

[Jamie Tedesco]

Great way if learning how to count and it really seems to be helpful to use rhyming to push did counting skills. I liked how the cut outs really helped with focal points.

[Corey]

Cute pictures! I like the math element, and the book is large enough for my students to see.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023)]

3* art
3* song

We had fun singing along to this. Squirt wanted to turn the pages all by himself - no room for me in the rocking chair!! Lots of colour and a great band playing the song.

[Jim Sibigtroth]

Illustrated version of "This Old Man..He Played One..." with a few simple math facts in the illustrations.

[Laura]

I used to read this with my mom when I was little.

[Tracy]

There's some cute arithmetic here, actually.

[Luke Pacifico]

1) No awards given.
2) Pre-K - 2
3) A charming song-book with appropriate illustrations that help with children learning how to count.
4) The illustrations are minimalistic in the sense that a lot of the page is blank, but that is most likely intentional to help kids count the appropriate number of objects on the page that correspond with the number.
5) Great song and book to help children count.

[Ellie]

Good fun :) the students enjoyed it and we even had our music teacher come in and play some of it on her ukulele 🎼🎵

[Spencer]

2021
Gift from Harper's grandmother

Nursery rhyme I remember from my childhood

[booklady]

My grandson's favorite books are flap books, those which rhyme and/or can be sung to him. This was a hit yesterday. I had been singing it to him anyway, but now there is a book to go with it.

[Danny]

I read this book on my chrome book.