PROFESSIONAL READING

Half for You and Half for Me: Best-Loved Nursery Rhymes and the Stories Behind Them

by Katherine GOVIER
illus. by Sarah Clement. 176p. Midpoint. 2014. Tr $22.95. ISBN 9781770502123.
COPY ISBN
This beautiful volume is illustrated with a variety of drawings, woodcuts, and paintings, many of which are historic images from the Toronto Public Library's Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books. Using a number of historic sources, Govier has researched the background of these rhymes and included this information in smaller print under the accompanying verse. Govier includes several Canadian rhymes and poems, including Dennis Lee's "Night Thanks." The author's Canadian background might explain the "Inky Dinky Spider" rather the "Itsy Bitsy Spider," which is the version familiar to American children. Librarians, teachers, and students of children's literature should find the rhymes (most of which were originally not intended for children) and their history to be of interest.—Elaine Lesh Morgan, formerly at Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
Reviewed by Elaine Lesh , Aug 01, 2014

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