The Cat and the Fiddle: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes

Animals figure prominently in this collection of 40 nursery rhymes, distinguished by Morris’s dreamlike watercolor illustrations. For “Lavender’s Blue” and “Lilies Are White” a king and queen ride a polar bear, all three crowned with botanicals mentioned in the verse. Later, a woman in vibrant robes knits yarn carried “three bags full” by her enormous, shaggy black sheep. Morris places nomadic, magisterial figures against pastoral backdrops, peppered with castles and cottages, creating moments of strange, bewitching beauty. Ages 3–6. (Dec.)