Mother Goose

by Eloise Wilkin

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes book w/ illustrations by Eloise Wilkin. A Little Golden book.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Poetry, Fiction, Nursery Rhymes

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Eloise Margaret Wilkin was an American illustrator whose work became synonymous with the visual identity of Little Golden Books and shaped generations of readers through warm, idealized images of childhood and family life. Trained at the Rochester Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute, she began her career illustrating schoolbooks, paper dolls, and early children’s titles before establishing herself in New York publishing. In 1944, she signed an exclusive contract with Simon and Schuster to illustrate Little Golden Books, producing several titles each year and becoming one of the line’s most recognizable artists. Her watercolor and colored pencil illustrations were celebrated for their soft light, gentle realism, and affectionate portrayals of babies, toddlers, parents, and domestic scenes, often using her own children and grandchildren as models. Wilkin also illustrated religious books, calendars, records, and magazines, and adapted earlier artwork to reflect changing cultural and social awareness. Beyond books, she designed dolls for Vogue and Madame Alexander, extending her influence into popular culture. Her illustrations remain highly collectible and enduringly influential in American children’s publishing.

Reviews

[The Celtic Rebel (Richard) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book as a child, and enjoyed reading it to my children. Got the pleasure of reading it to my grandson for the first time this week. I look forward to sharing it with him many other times.

Love the illustrations in the book and love the nursery rhymes included. One of my favorite Little Golden Books.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eloise Wilkin's Mother Goose
By: Eloise Wilkin

Genre: Mother Goose

Critique:
All the classics are included in this "Little Golden Book". Baa, Baa Black Sheep to Mary Had a Little Lamb, children every where will fall in love with these stories.

A. The illustrations are the area for critique in this cute story book.
B. The author uses just one illustration for each rhyme. There is no frame around the illustration and it looks as though the author uses water colors after drawing the illustration. There is a great amount of detail provided in the illustrations. The poem "Ride a Cockhorse" has a little girl running with her stick-horse and she even has a whip to keep her pony in line!
C. Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son has an illustration of a young boy running and carrying a small pig. There are small circles above and to the left of the boy that give the indication that he is running down a cobblestone path. The text is set to the left and top of the page. Each page is different in the placement of the text. Some have the title at the top of the page and the rhyme at the bottom, some have both at the top. Some are centered and others are not. The illustrations are also "old-fashioned" in that the people have "old-fashioned" clothes on. These rhymes are old and the author does an excellent job of keeping the illustrations "old" as well.

Curriculum Connection:
I would use this story book with any age group. Younger age groups will enjoy the rhyming and the illustrations. Older age groups can use the book to "pick apart" the rhymes. By picking apart, I mean that they can count syllables, determine the style of the rhyme and so on.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Eloise Wilkin's art and illustrations. This Little Golden Book Mother Goose has some of the best one stanza verses and I really enjoy reading it to my children. I read it today to the three-year-old #redmermaidwarrior and 10-month-old #adragonviking with relaxation and joy. This is one of the best part of motherhood to littles.

I have a very old used copy.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nursery Rhymes are situated in a miniature world filled with Little Girls and Little Boys: Little Jack Horner, Little Miss Muffet, Little Polly Flinders, Little Boy Blue, Little Bo Peep. They are also rife with corporal punishment. The Old Woman spanked her many children “all soundly, And sent them to bed.” Little Polly Flinders’ mother “spanked her little daughter, for spoiling her nice new clothes.” Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son “was beat, And Tom went crying Down the street.” As new generations reflect on nursery rhymes of the past and create their own for the future, maybe we can minimize the spanking and maximize the subjects.

[Cathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful Little Golden Book, first published in 1961. I like Eloise Wilkins' sweet style of illustrations, and it's always fun to see the different styles of various Mother Goose books. I bought this book at a used bookstore when our second daughter was a toddler, and she loved it. I'm sure that I'll pass it along to her and her future children. :) You can't go wrong with the basics, I suppose.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

These rhymes are different to the ones I remember. Some of them just didn’t flow the way I remember. It did bring back a lot of memories though and we did have fun trying to remember the actions to go along with the rhymes:

[Hot Dog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it.

[Stacey]

1961

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short versions of very common mother goose rhymes

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book great pictures

[Little Seesaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is your classic Mother Goose rhymes with my most favorite artist.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Childhood nursery rhymes

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forgot how much child abuse was woven all throughout these nursery rhymes. Definitely a read just for Eloise Wilkin's illustrations.

[Katy Lohman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable art for very old poems.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet edition of Mother Goose nursery rhymes with cute illustrations and short versions of each rhyme. Classic "Little Golden Book" that is great at storytime.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 17-month-old's new favorite bedtime book. She won't have any other. I love Eloise Wilkin's illustrations.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book for the students to use for nursery rhymes.

[Kristi Bumpus]

2

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

x2

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ms. Wilkin phoned this one it -- these illustrations are terrible, scraggly and awkward.

[SBC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains 22 nursery rhymes, each presented on a single page with a coloured border.

[Cws]

JE-Gol-W