{"id":42160,"date":"2023-04-01T22:55:42","date_gmt":"2023-04-02T02:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=42160"},"modified":"2023-04-01T22:55:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-02T02:55:42","slug":"review-of-the-real-dada-mother-goose-by-jon-scieszka-illustrated-by-julia-rothman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=42160","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Real Dada Mother Goose, by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Julia Rothman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Real Dada Mother Goose<\/p>\n

A Treasury of Complete Nonsense<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jon Scieszka
\nillustrated by Julia Rothman<\/p>\n

Candlewick Press, 2022. 72 pages.
\nReview written February 2, 2023, from a library book.
\nStarred Review
\nA 2023 Capitol Choices Selection<\/p>\n

This is truly a treasury of complete nonsense, and who better to provide nonsense than Jon Scieszka?<\/p>\n

It’s hard to know where to file this on my page. I don’t have a category for “Imaginative Play.”<\/p>\n

What Jon Scieszka does here is take six rhymes from the old classic, The Real Mother Goose<\/em>, and reworks them in every way you can think of. <\/p>\n

For example, he’s got “Humpty Dumpty” in Morse Code, and then in Computer Translation Telephone — showing how a computer translated the original into Spanish, then that into Arabic, that into Chinese, that into Latin, and that back into English. The end result is:<\/p>\n

Humpty Dumpty sits on the wall.
\nHumpty Dumpty fell.
\nAll horses are kings, and all men are kings;
\nI can’t meddle with Humpty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Other delights include “Jack Be Nimble in Pig Latin and Esperanto, “Old Mother Hubbard” as a comic strip and with other animals, “Hey Diddle, Diddle” as a recipe, a news article, and a knock-knock joke, “Hickory Dickory Dock” with the clock striking all hours, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” with anagrams, and much, much more.<\/p>\n

There are explanations of how to do many of the different variations in the back, along with an explanation of Dadaism.<\/p>\n

And the book ends with an invitation:<\/p>\n

One, two, buckle my shoe.
\nNow YOU make these old rhymes new.<\/p>\n

Dada Geese writers! Dada Geese friends!
\nYOU put Humpty together again!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think I could have had a lot of fun with this book when I was a kid. May it spark imaginations far and wide!<\/p>\n

candlewick.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/real_dada_mother_goose.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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