Humpty Dumpty and Friends: Nursery Rhymes for the Young at Heart

Mother Goose rhymes are smartly paired and dreamily illustrated in this beguiling collection from Lipchenko. Each page features two poems, which often have shared elements or themes (a wide-lipped Humpty Dumpty sits reading on a stone wall, in front of a tree in which a cradle rocks precariously, hung from the horns of a bull). Classics are far outnumbered by rarer rhymes of equal charm ("As I was going out one day/ My head fell off and rolled away,/ But when I saw that it was gone,/ I picked it up and put it on"). The highly detailed and surreal nature of Lipchenko's illustrations will keep readers poring over the pages. Ages 3–6. (Sept.)