The McElderry Book of Mother Goose: Revered and Rare Rhymes

This fourth title in the McElderry Books series—following compilations of Greek myths, Aesop’s fables, and Grimm’s fairy tales—features more than 50 Mother Goose rhymes, illustrated in watercolor by Mathers with humor and emotional sensitivity. Joining familiar rhymes like “Hickory, Dickory, Dock” and “The Queen of Hearts” are many less-known selections, which often have somber subjects. Deaths and other injuries aren’t uncommon (“Little Betty Pringle, she had a pig./ He was not very little and not very big./ When he was alive, he lived in clover,/ But now he’s dead and that’s all over”), but they appear alongside rhymes comic, comforting, and clever to create a full, rich collection. Ages 6–10. (Aug.)