Mommy Goose: Rhymes from the Mountains

K-Gr 3—Norris, a native of eastern Kentucky, has gathered a collection of traditional Appalachian nursery rhymes heard in school yards and frequently altered by children as they played. His introduction relates little about the origins of "Mommy" Goose, but the photographs of folk artist Adkins's hand-carved and hand-painted crafts fill in some gaps. Readers can follow the carving of Mommy Goose throughout the book, which lends some flow to the narration. However, Norris's compilation consists of an uneven assortment of rhymes. A few humorous poems such as "Raccoons," "Rooster," "Level Cows," and "June Bug" are vivid and memorable and will lend pictures to active imaginations. But many of the lines and phrases are as nonsensical as folk rhymes can be, yet these selections are not that melodious to the ear and are rife with adult sensibilities. Out of 48 rhymes, only a handful will be chosen for reading aloud easily—"I bit my tongue, and now it's sore. I hope I don't bite my tongue no more."