The Neighborhood Mother Goose

PreS-Gr 2-No quaint little woman in a tall hat here! This "Mother Goose" is a real goose that lives in a city park. The 41 rhymes range from the most familiar ("Pat-a-cake," "The itsy-bitsy spider") to a few that may be new to readers. Crews sets the verses in an urban environment full of city sidewalks, fire escapes, and brownstones. The pages are peopled with modern-looking, jeans- and T-shirt-clad youngsters of a variety of ages and backgrounds, as well as several adults. It is the smart, digitally manipulated photographic compositions that give this book its snap. They capture a child's real world, animated by contemporary visual references. A saucy little girl with a little curl is busily taking scissors to her Barbie's hair, and a helmeted kid rides a razor scooter in the street. Some pictures have been manipulated to be humorously surreal. The grinning lad photographed in "To market, to market" is carrying a grocery bag with a real piglet in it, while the old woman who lived in a shoe is raising her brood in a pair of well-worn men's boots carelessly tossed on the stairs. This offering is a fresh and welcome contribution that will have broader appeal than the standard nursery rhyme fare, which often seems limited to the preschool set. A truly cool version that is not for babies only.-Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Old Greenwich, CT Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Crews's photographic picture books (One Hot Summer Day; Snowball) have always captured a certain rhythm-be it of the playground, a city sidewalk or just childlike interaction. Like them, her latest project rolls along with a strong beat; verse and image keep perfect time. Viewed through Crews's camera, an urban neighborhood (the author's beloved Brooklyn, as distinguished by various borough landmarks) resonates with activity. Readers can almost hear hands clapping, babies cooing and children laughing in crisp photo-collages. A grassy park, storefronts, apartment windows and rooftops provide some of the backdrops for members of a multi-ethnic cast as they interpret such rhymes as "Ring Around the Rosie," "Dance, Little Baby" and "Humpty Dumpty." Crews includes lesser-known verses as well-"Cobbler, Cobbler," "Three Wise Men of Gotham"-which work to equally good effect. Adding an element of whimsy, she digitally manipulates her photos, achieving a varied scale that allows Jack (of "Be Nimble" fame) to hurdle a cupcake with a candle in it, or three tiny men (those men of Gotham) to head seaward off a Coney Island pier. The updated look provides a freshness without being overtly contemporary; Mother Goose's timeless rhymes are quite at home in this new setting. Throughout, the artist demonstrates a talent for coaxing seemingly candid moments from her child subjects as they enact their nursery-rhyme roles, and the other hallmarks of her work-color, action and a sense of fun-shine at full force. Ages 3-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2004 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

"Mother Goose's timeless rhymes are quite at home in this new setting."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)