Mother Osprey Nursery Rhymes for Buoys & Gulls By Lucy Nolan Illustrated by Connie McLennan

Hardcover ISBN: 9781934359969, $16.95

About the book: What if Jack and Jill had been playing on a nice soft sand dune instead of that treacherous hill? And suppose Mary's pet wasn't really a lamb. What if Mary had a little...clam? Those questions - and more - are gleefully answered in Mother Osprey: Nursery Rhymes for Buoys & Gulls. This collection retells Mother Goose rhymes and celebrates America's coastlines and waterways - from sea to shining sea. Young readers will meet playful pelicans, seagulls, and otters. They'll ride wild island ponies, meet pirates, and hopefully, they'll learn the important difference between "orca" and "okra." With clever twists on old standards, Mother Osprey is a salute to sea breezes, sand, and just plain silliness.

Review: This is the cutest book! I love how the author took traditional nursery rhymes  and rewrote them into rhymes about the ocean. This book isn't just for very young children but for any age. The rhyme and meter are pretty true to the original Mother Goose nursery rhymes and for that reason will engage the mind and attention of the child.

Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of hay;
four and twenty pelicans
fixed a luncheon tray.

When the tray was finished,
the birds knew what to do;
they set this very dainty dish
before the trawler crew.......

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One flamingo, two flamingo, three flamingo, four.
A flamboyance of flamingoes is a group of three or more.

First a goose, and then some geese--a gaggle in the lane.
But if the geese are flying, then the gaggle is a skein.....

The illustrations are great also and fit the rhymes very nicely. In the back of the book, there is a section "For Creative Minds." Nuggets of factual information connected to each of the rhymes is featured. And then there is a map that shows the location of various features of the book. This provides a nice study tool for young children engaged in early map reading. There are also Map Activity Questions and Poem-related Questions. This educational material can be further enhanced by visiting http://www.arbordalepublishing.com/documents/TeachingActivities/Osprey_TA.pdf providing an added bonus to this great book.

This copy will be placed in the school's library and I encourage families to purchase their own for the sheer fun of reading nursery rhymes.

DISCLOSURE: A complimentary copy was provided for the purpose of this review. Opinions expressed are those of the reviewer. No compensation was received for this review.