Humpty Dumpty and Other Rhymes; Little Boy Blue and Other Rhymes; Wee Willie Winkie and Other Rhymes; Pussy-Cat Pussy-Cat and Other Rhymes

My Very First Mother Goose, a brilliant large format hardcover anthology published in 1996, has been reused to create these four bright, square board books each of which contains eight nursery rhymes - one per double spread. Board books are no longer seen as only for babies and toddlers: my reception class readers have spent weeks voraciously devouring and poring over the details in these attractive titles whose robust format means they can stand up to excessive use by enthusiastic readers in an early years' classroom. For those not familiar with Wells's work, she has a penchant for small furry creatures particularly rabbits and mice who frequently 'people' her illustrations. Many of these hint at other goings on than a reading of the rhymes alone might suggest: for instance is the whiskered gentleman in 'Hickety, pickety' really admiring the black hen? There are countless opportunities for making stories and if that was not enough, mathematical potential too, in the form of counting, shape and pattern, and clocks. Add to that the delight of finding you can read the rhymes yourself - what more could any four- or five-year-old want?