Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes

More than 70 illustrators—Ashley Bryan, Eric Carle, Lucy Cousins, Shirley Hughes, Jon Klassen, Jerry Pinkney, and many more—interpret 150 nursery rhymes of various global origins. Cradle songs and rhymes familiar in the Western world, such as “Hush Little Baby” (depicted by Don Cadoret with a rabbit parent and child), intermingle with more obscure selections. A Tsimshian “laughing song” from the Pacific Northwest (“The little girl was born to gather wild roses”) offers hope for a girl’s future (it’s accompanied by a luminous, rose-filled image by Tsimshian artist Bill Helin). The careful juxtaposition of the rhymes highlights both their diversity and cross-cultural commonalities: versions of “Little Miss Muffet” from England, America, Australia, and Jamaica have the girl being frightened by a spider, grasshopper, wombat, and “bredda Anancy.” A rich and wonderfully varied addition to the bookshelf of nursery-rhyme collections. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)