Advanced Children's Literature: Poetry

THIS LITTLE PIGGY: Lap songs, Finger plays, Clapping Games, and Pantomime rhymes. Jane Yolen, editor. Will Hillenbrand, illustrator and musical arrangements by Adam Stemple. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2005.

This volume is without an equal! It should be required reading and purchase by all new parents. Thank goodness for little ones that preschool teachers, elementary school media specialists, music teachers and children’s librarians will find this an indispensable guide to teach these rhymes and play these games with children if their parents forget. The book includes brightly colored mixed media illustrations, poetry and rhymes, instructions for playing and often a musical score. Also included is an audio CD but the book is perfectly capable of standing on its own as proven by the fact that the local library circulates the volume even if the CD gets lost or stolen which has happened to the copy checked out by this reviewer. Many children today are growing up without a link to the cultural heritage that a few generations ago we all knew, taught our children, and practically took for granted. The ditties are predominately Anglo and from Great Britain but a few are pure Americana. Variety is also a highlight of the book. We have Pease Porridge Hot, Pease Porridge in America, Pease Porridge in the City. One ditty has a versions from New York City, Australia, and Worcest, England. Miss Mary Mack is shown in a Pennsylvania verse from 1888, a Boston version from 1865, and a 1895 version from St. Louis as well as the non-dated and probably original version from Shropshire, England. Patty-Cake Around the World includes the version commonly used in Spain, Germany, and Italy. Extensively researched with a bibliography of 12 titles and accessibility is insured by an Index of First Lines. Jane Yolen uses the classic baby game “peek-a-boo” in her introduction and assures adults that none included in the volume are difficult to teach or perform. But, she goes on to say, “the unite us across borders, across ages, and across abilities. Even before a child can talk, can walk, can name the parts of the body, play time is essential. The lap is a kind of schoolroom. What a child learns there is learned forever.” The governor of the State of Georgia distributed several CDs of classical music to each new baby before they left home from the hospital. The next time there are funds available, this educator suggests this purchase would be equally useful for cognitive development and would also encourage bonding, emotional development, and a sense of cultural history, a sense of belonging. If your favorite lapsit storyteller does not have access to a copy consider this for holiday gift giving!