Mother Goose & More: Classic Rhymes with Added Lines

Mother Hubbard's dog gets fed, Humpty Dumpty is repaired and Little Boy Blue's sheep are led safely home. No, these are not scenes from The Twilight Zone , but instead are intriguing addenda to the canon of that celebrated matriarch, Mother Goose. Obstetrician Hickey has seen fit to explicate these verses, providing happy endings and/or expanding upon unresolved ``plots.'' Thus the Lady Bug's children do not perish: ``They've all flown away / Except little Ann, / For she's crept under / The frying pan.'' The dutiful mother returns to her brood and, in a reassuring conclusion, a new home is built (one hopes with a smoke detector). Though this book may seem heretical at first glance, there are surely youngsters--and parents--who really care about the fates of these beloved characters. The energetic tone is carefully preserved, and additions are printed in a different color than the originals. Moss's humorous, zestful pictures have an appropriately old-fashioned air. Though Ms. Goose might cavil, this slightly subverted picture book offers imaginative reunions with some dear old friends. Ages 2-6. (May)