Hey Diddle Diddle, and Hey Diddle Doodle. (Tadpoles Nursery Rhymes). Brian Moses, reteller. Illustrated by Jill Newton. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7896-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7884-4 (RLB.). Subject Heading: Nursery Rhymes, English. Preschool-kindergarten / Ages 1-5. Review by Claire Perrin. **** /4

The popular Mother Goose rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” meets its match in this book by Moses and Newton. The familiar nursery rhyme is presented first, followed by a new rhyme using the same pattern. Two lines of the rhyme are presented on each page in a very large font with a colour illustration to go with each part of the rhyme. At the end of the rhyme, the full rhyme is rewritten on one page as a sort of review for children to “read”. At the bottom, a caption asks: “Can you find the rhyming words?”

     The second rhyme, cleverly created by Moses, follows the same pattern but features a pipe-playing poodle. Other new characters include a frog, tiger, and a fork. Again the rhyme is presented in its entirety for a second time, with a prompt to look for rhyming words.

Hey diddle doodle,
The pipe and the poodle,
The frog hopped over the star.
The big tiger roared to see such tricks,
And the fork zoomed away in his car!

     Newton’s illustrations are clear, colourful and engaging. The characters are cute and friendly and will appeal to both boys and girls. The book’s small format makes it easy for small children to hold and turn the pages.

     This book is part of a series of “Tadpole Nursery Rhymes” published by Crabtree. There are three other nursery rhymes that have been re-created. With clear and simple text accompanied by plenty of visual clues, these books lend themselves to early readers. Other activities in the book include a puzzle (finding cats and dogs), as well as suggested questions for adults to ask a child after reading this book. One suggestion is to try making a new rhyme using the same format.

Hey diddle dum, the bear and the drum...

Highly Recommended.

Claire Perrin is an elementary teacher with the Toronto District School Board.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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