Nursery Rhymes and Their Summaries

Nursery Rhymes and Their Summaries

Children’s rhyme books convey information about children’s vivid events and help boost comprehension of their surroundings. Rhyme books contain features that attract children, and adults guide them in reading them, thereby enabling children to engage with these characteristics, including pop-ups, flaps, pull-tabs, and other attractive features contained in the books (Galda et al., 2016). Images and words used in picture books are combined in a specific way to form narratives for children and hence enormously contain style and fiction that attracts children to read them. Additionally, these books include illustrations to intensify the book artistically and draw children’s attention through the imaging feature. They contain few words, and one gets the story’s meaning by looking at the pictures. Reading books, therefore, acts as a way to prepare young children for real-life future interactions. They learn language, cognitive and social skills, and emotional development by reading rhyme books. Additionally, rhyme nursery books help children to develop their vocabulary and increase their skills in language development, hence understanding how language is applied in varied contexts. Therefore, this paper aims to review five nursery rhyme books and summarize their content.

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Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Joseph Hale, 1830

Mary Had a Little Lamb by Sarah Joseph Hale is a popular rhyme book that has received multiple awards. It is a famous nursery rhyme written to entertain children while at the same time educating them in the early stages of their simple English learning (Lederer, 1997). The poem represents a story about a small girl who had kept a lovely lamb as a pet. The lyrics reflect on the affection the girl has towards the lamb. The book was written from the perspective of how the girl loved the lamb and went with her whenever she visited (Lederer, 1997). Therefore, the lamb represents the love and affection the two have towards each other. For example, the lamb followed Mary up to the school one day. This was against the school rules, but to the contrary, the lamb caused a lot of excitement amongst the other children. They laughed as they played with the lamb. Seeing this, the teachers decided to chase the lamb out of school. However, to their surprise, the lamb ran to Mary. When finding the connection between Mary and the lamb, the teachers and children questioned the type of love between Mary and the lamb. As such, the teachers learned that Mary was so attached to the lamb that they grew affection towards each other. Therefore, the rhyme book aims to educate children on the need to love each other and their friends. The care and attachment that Mary and the lamb had towards each other made the lamb follow Mary to school.

Five Litle Ducks by Denise Fleming, 2016

Five Little Ducks is one of the classic picture books that presents its message in poem form. The book received a Caldecott Honor because of its popularity among nursery rhymes. It is an adorable book popular amongst nursery-going children. The book features five children dressed like ducks going out one day over the faraway hills (Paparone, 1995); when the mother duck calls them back, only four return. However, some hours later, the remaining duck returns. One major aspect of this book is that it represents its message through showing diversity. The ducks were from varied races, and their cute little duck costumes reflected diversity (Paparone, 1995). The costumes were bright enough to represent the diverse colors of the duck’s little eyes. Denise Fleming takes a modern spin on a classic nursery rhyme. The book sheds light on the adventure the ducks experience as they visit the mountains. They meet new people and explore new places each day, helping keep the reader attached. Additionally, the author uses repetition as a stylistic device that makes it easy for young readers to read and comprehend. The short verses are in a small book so children can hold and read independently. Toddlers will also appreciate how the book’s pages are designated to make it easy for them to open easily. It has pictures that are zoomed in and out to help children see the pictures better.

Three Little Pigs by Oliver Tearle, 1840s

Three Little Pigs is a fairy tale of three little pigs who built their houses using different materials. One fateful day, a Big Bad Wolf blew down two houses belonging to two of the pigs. The destroyed places were made of straw and sticks (Galdone, 1992). However, the wolf could not destroy the third house made of bricks. The story aims to teach children the importance of hard work. The Big Bad Wolf did not destroy the third house built using bricks because the owner had invested their time to build a strong place. The pig showed the ability to remain cool and prepare enough aid to help him win the wolf in the end. The third little pig is admirable because of his hardworking, diligent, courageous, and cunning nature, especially when he stands against the wolf during the outwitting adversary (Galdone, 1992). The story’s moral is that hard work and patience pay off at the end. The first two pigs were lazy and needed more work and effort to build their houses. As a result, the home they constructed was destroyed by the wolf. The book is important for nursery children because it teaches the importance of investing time while doing things to get exemplary results. It highlights the value of dedication and the rewards that come out of it. Preparation and planning led to the third pig’s success. He understood the potential danger and took the necessary precautions for prevention in advance. Consequently, teaching children that quality is important over speed is important. Hastily doing things could lead to dangerous destruction in the end.

Peter Pumpkin Eater by Sandra Cisneros,

The rhyme, Peter Pumpkin Eater, talks about a man named Peter who loves eating pumpkins. Peter was unable to provide for his family and kept his wife in a pumpkin shell, a place where she could not express her feelings (Mortimer, 2015). Despite Peter being unable to provide for his wife, he marries another wife he does not love. Later, Peter returns to school and gets educated, hence being able to read and write. Although this book has a higher meaning, like many other nursery rhymes, because it teaches about concepts unfamiliar to the kids, it serves the opportunity to talk about sensitive issues that every family may go through (Mortimer, 2015). The author of this book uses hidden meanings to represent certain meanings. Peter hiding his wife inside a pumpkin shell means destroying or controlling her. The wife felt trapped in the predicament with her husband, which made her feel trapped. Peter is called the pumpkin eater because even though he is not physically killing her wife, he is killing her emotionally. The image of pain in the dramatic monologue in the rhyme book shows how Peter pushes his wife to the extent that she becomes sick of the relationship. Therefore, the message of the book is about relationships and infidelity. People who cheat on their spouses could end up suffering from fatal consequences. As the rhyme suggests, they could be murdered and hidden in the pumpkin.

This Little Piggy Went to the Market by Margaret Bateson-Hill, 2009

This Little Piggy Went to the Market is a poem that tells the narrative of a pig who goes through several stages before being sold at a market (Bahls, 1989). Initially, the pigs’ owner takes the first big pig to be slaughtered. The little pig had to stay home to mature because he was not yet ready to sell. The story teaches the importance of early years in children’s development. They learn how to coordinate themselves, hence a common way of increasing a child’s ability to form storytelling skills through fingerplay (Bahls, 1989). When singing to the rhyme of the story, children recite the verse while holding up one toe at a time. Each toe represents a piggy. The major themes in the poem include happiness and fear. The poem deals with the life of pigs and how they are fed, kept at home, and sold in the market. They are kept in proper care. Some of the pigs that are sold are slaughtered. The story is told repetitively to help children grow their five senses. In addition, the report also has lessons that are important to parents and caregivers. The author aims to educate caregivers on the importance of the early years of a child in their development. Children should be provided with a nurturing environment to help them develop their senses and skills.

Conclusion

In summary, all the summarized rhyme nursery books are important in helping children develop their literature-reading skills during their early stages of learning. By engaging learners in reading these books, teachers can help them break into new realms of creativity with their personal writing, reading, and thinking skills. Additionally, since these books utilize a variety of skills, like pictures and colors, they attract children’s curiosity, helping them develop their reading skills while still young. Lastly, these books are important sources of information for children because they empower them with life lessons and warnings, shaping their behavior patterns as they grow up.

References

Bahls, J. E. (1989). This little piggy went to the market. Student Law, 18, 18.

Galda, L., Liang, L. A., & Cullinan, B. E. (2016). Literature and the child (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Galdone, P. (1992). The three little pigs. Hinkler Books.

Lederer, R. (1997). Mary had a letter, lamb. Word Ways, 30(2), 18.

Mortimer, P. (2015). The pumpkin eater. Penguin UK.

Paparone, P. (1995). Five little ducks: An old rhyme. North-South Books.

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Nursery Rhymes and Their Summaries

Select 5 Nursery Rhymes and read them. For each selection, include the title, author, and publication date (if you have it) below, and provide a simple one-paragraph summary of the book.

Put together a simple title page (name, date, course number). Begin your summaries on a separate page. Make sure that your assignment is typed using 12-size Times New Roman font.
Examples of some nursery rhymes are Mary Had a Little Lamb, Humpty Dumpty, Three Little Pigs, Jack and Jill, Peter Pumpkin Eater, Old Macdonald Had a Farm, and Five Little Ducks.