Goose of all Goose....

Title: Mother Goose: Numbers on the Loose
Author: Leo & Diane Dillon
Illustrator: Leo& Diane Dillon
Publishing Company: Harcourt Inc.
Copyright: 2007
Pages: 56
Genre: Poetry/ Mother Goose and Nursery Rhyme



I chose this book because it has Mother Goose rhymes, numbers, and colors that really helped my daughter with some of the colors and numbers she knows already. I like the way the numbers are scattered throughout the book and not just straight 1, 2, 3, and so forth. The book uses twenty-four familiar and unfamiliar rhymes with the corresponding numbers and colors that are integrated into the rhymes. Such as “1st in a carriage. 2nd in a gig. 3rd on a donkey. And 4th on a pig,” you can tell by the illustrations what the rhyme is saying. At times, I felt like the book was jumping all over the place with no set pace. The book is just filled with numbers, colors, and rhymes, and just an overall fun book.

The illustrations are big, colorful, and fun. They are done in gouache on watercolor paper with pencil. I noticed in some of the illustrations many of the people had on masks, but I like the way the illustrators incorporated animals and humans in masks. Every illustration goes along with the rhyme on a double-page spread.

  This book is recommended for kindergarten through fourth grade for students who are learning numbers and letters. This book would be a great way to present number recognition to the classroom in order to enhance the experiences of the students. This could be used to introduce children to the nursery rhymes of Mother Goose.  Students can create their own numbered nursery rhyme with pictures in their stories. This book has one award, ALA Notable Books for Children 2008.


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