Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes

PreS-Gr 2—Originally published in Great Britain, this collection includes 150 nursery rhymes—many of them familiar—from 23 countries and cultures, accompanied by color illustrations created by 76 artists, many well known, in a wide variety of styles and mediums: photos, soft watercolor scenes, hand-colored prints, comic strips and cartoons, collage, realistic paintings, and more. Several pages of rhymes are handwritten—some in childlike printing or cursive, others in flowing calligraphy. Jump rope rhymes, riddle rhymes, counting and clapping rhymes, finger games, songs, lullabies, and nonsense rhymes are included. In her two-page introduction, collector Hammill refers to nursery rhymes as "tiny masterpieces of verse" that "have outlasted their origins as street cries, folk songs, political satire, remnants of custom and proverb and have been polished into perfect form over time." Although all of the poems are in English, regional spelling has been used in some poems, such as the Jamaican verse, "Dis lickle pig go a markit,/Dis lickle pig tan a yaad." Appended are an "Index of First Lines," some brief information about each of the artists, and a listing of sources. Four "Contents" pages list poems and artists in order of appearance. The English versions of many familiar poems differ somewhat from the American wording.