Nursery Rhyme Comics

Title: Nursery Rhyme Comics
Author: Editor Chris Duffy

Illustrator: Various
Publisher: First Second (:01)

Copyright: 2011

Price: $18.99

ISBN: 978-1-59643-600-8
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Summary and Quick Thoughts: Nursery Rhyme Comics is a collection of 50 artist renditions of popular and unknown nursery rhymes for kids. The introduction discusses the collection and why it was done for parents. The afterward discusses a little more about nursery rhymes. Each spread is about 1 page to 3 pages long, perfect for those who are interested in bite sized readings.

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Recommended Audience: all ages

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Things to be aware of: None.
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Further Thoughts: This title got a lot of buzz before it was released. I remember it being mentioned in a webinar or an article. Kids were getting copies of pages and were getting really excited for the book to come out. It got great ratings and it is easy to see why.

Take your favorite nursery rhyme and think about it. What images does it conjure for you? For the sake of this, I’m going to think about “Hickory Dickory Dock.” When I was a kid, I had a toy of sorts for the rhyme. It was a basic clock with a mouse running up the side, then down. In this collection, “Hickory Dickory Dock” is illustrated with a little mouse whose duty is to ring the bell. That is certainly different than what you may have pictured. That is exactly how Nursery Rhyme Comics goes.

I can’t pick a favorite. I won’t pick a favorite. Each spread has something to love in it from the hint of a recurring rhyme to a completely reimagining of Little Bo Peep (who looks older and smarter than she is typically portrayed). Each comic has something to it from being in the real world, to being in space, to covering different races of children. All walks of life are represented here and I think that really helps this collection. The artists also represented in this work are the best of the best from Craig Thompson of Blankets to Kate Beaton of the web comic “Hark! A Vagrant” to children’s illustrators David Macaulay (those gorgeous building books) and Nick Bruel (of Bad Kitty fame).

Nursery Rhyme Comics has something for everyone and is a winner in the library, especially for those looking to round out their children’s graphic novel sections.

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Source: Library copy.