Since it is Retro Day, we thought it would be fun to share our retro mother goose books with you.
National Retro Day
Retro Day started in 2017. Robert Duran witnessed his neighbor throwing away an old projection screen and then contacted the National Day Calendar to see if there was a day to celebrate the way things used to be. There was not. Therefore, Robert founded National Retro Day. It is celebrated every year on his birthday, February 27th. Schools often celebrate this day during homecoming weeks where they dress up in costumes from different decades.
Because we use the retro mother goose rhymes as a basis for our Mother Goose Meets Mother Nature book series, we thought it would be fun to look at three Mother Goose books from back in the day.
If you search the internet for mother goose books, you will find hundreds of versions from all different periods. You see, Mother Goose has been around a very long time. The lyrics to these nursery rhymes have been published in books for many years. Consequently, I currently have three that I will share with you today.
The Real Mother Goose published in 1916 and 1944.
The oldest is a copy of The Real Mother Goose ©1914 and then renewed its copyright in 1944. The book was printed each year until 1977. If you were to purchase a copy of this book, you would pay anywhere from $12 to $60 depending on its printing date and condition. This is one of the most complete books of nursery rhymes containing over 300 rhymes in 128 pages.
Mother Goose Rhymes published in 1953.
Mother Goose Rhymes. This book was published in 1950-1953. The copyright years are written in roman numeral form. MCML-MCMLIII. The Platt and Munk Company began in 1921 in New York by Geo Platt and Arnold Munk. Arnold Munk is also Watty Piper, who is famous for writing The Little Engine that Could. They published children’s books and also sets of crayons. In 1971, Quester Education Products bought the company but kept the name Platt and Munk as a division.
This retro Mother Goose book has 90 different nursery rhymes and beautiful full-page illustrations by Eulalie Minford Banks. The illustrations are what make this retro Mother Goose truly special.
Sylvia Long’s Rendition published in 1999
Chronicle Books published a more recent Mother Goose collection in 1999. This collection contains more than 75 classic rhymes. Sylvia Long is the illustrator. As an illustrator myself, I find her work so inspiring. Through her illustrations, the very old Mother Goose rhymes come alive once again. feel very fortunate to own a signed copy of this retro Mother Goose book.
Mother Goose Meets Mother Nature – 1996 and 2021
As a teacher, I know that nursery rhymes are an excellent resource to teach children how to read. They’re easy to memorize texts help children to see and say new words while tracking simple phrases and sentences. That is why I worked with other teachers to develop the Other Goose Meets Mother Nature series. In these books, we rewrote nursery rhymes to teach important science and math skills. The new nursery rhyme lyrics keep the original characters and rhyme scheme.
We actually began writing these books in 1990. I guess that makes them retro too! You can read more about them here. We are also developing teacher guides for each book and a yearly curriculum that implements spiritual, social, and academic growth into each book.
September: (Routines and Schedules) “Hickory, the Mouse Learns About Time” and “Teach About Time with Hickory, the Mouse”.
October: (Pumpkins) “Peter-Peter Learns About Decay and Growth” and “Teach About Decay and Growth with Peter-Peter”.
November: (Healthy eating habits) “Jack Sprat Learns About Food” and “Teach About Food with Jack Sprat”.
December/January: (Snow and ice, States of Matter) “Jack and Jill Learn About Water” and “Teach About Water with Jack and Jill”.
February: (Shadows) “Jack B. Nimble Learns About Shadows“ and “Teach About Shadows with Jack B. Nimble”.
March: (Animals and Habitats) “Mary Learns About Animal Coverings” and “Teach About Animal Coverings with Mary”.
April: (Insects and Spiders) “Little Miss Muffet Learns About Spiders” and “Teach About Spiders with Little Miss Muffet”.
May: (Life Cycles and Positional Words) “Humpty Dumpty Learns About Positions” and “Teach About Positions with Humpty Dumpty”.
Sign up for the 7 steps to become fruit-bearing vessels. Then, we will email you when each guide is released.
Dawn Stephens