Young Canada's Nursery Rhyme

Sylvia Pantaleo is an assistant professor of education specializing in
children’s literature at Queen’s University. She is the co-author of
Learning with Literature in the Canadian Elementary Classroom.

In 1887, Young England’s Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by Constance
Haslewood, was published in England. Three years later, the book was
edited for Canadian children; 21 poems were deleted and the words in one
poem were changed to more accurately reflect Canadian weather. The new,
shorter version of the book was called Young Canada’s Nursery Rhymes.
The only remaining copy of that volume is held in the Osborne Collection
of the Toronto Public Library. Using advanced computer-graphics
capabilities, Key Porter Books has reproduced the poetry and
illustrations, electronically repairing serious damage to the original
book.

The publication of this historic collection of nursery rhymes marks the
50th anniversary of the founding of the Osborne Collection. Visually,
the book is a delight as it retains the appearance of the original
volume. This copy of early Canadiana contains classic rhymes (e.g.,
“Humpty Dumpty,” “Hickory Dickory Dock”) as well as
less-familiar poems. Expeditious accessibility to specific selections is
limited: the rhymes are untitled and the book has no table of contents
or index. Although contemporary children will be unfamiliar with the
vocabulary used in some of the poems, the universality of the Mother
Goose language will resonate for them. Recommended.