Montmorency's Book of Rhymes
T.J. Winter
Hardback, 101 Pages
9780989280006
Join dear Montmorency as he indulges his sweet tooth, the Pasha of Salonica whose family fears for his health, Aisha Featherstone-Pugh who is having trouble with her ablutions, and the Masjid Mouse from Merry Lane who never forgets his prayers in a delightful collection of rhymes relayed in the style of the classics.
Using rich and vibrant language, T.J. Winter transports us to a scintillating world of unforgettable characters while Anne Yvonne Gilbert brings the rhymes to life through her heartwarming illustrations, ensuring this book its place as a treasured classic for children.
Montmorency’s Book of Rhymes follows a tradition of nursery rhymes which in the West can be traced as far back as Henry the Eighth. This suggests that even a literary giant such as William Shakespeare may have been rocked to sleep by the same rhymes and melodies that we lull our own children with today.
Just as with the authorship of Shakespearean plays, there are also varying theories about the true identity of Mother Goose. Some scholars think she may have been the Queen of Sheba. Others think she may have been Queen Bertha, who was the mother of Charlemagne and died in 783. Or, possibly, ‘Mother Goose’ was Bertha, the wife of Robert II of France (“Robert the Pious”).
The mother of Charlemagne had a very distinct foot, either in size or shape, and was known as ‘Queen Goose Foot’ or ‘Goose-footed Bertha’. The other Bertha - the wife of Robert the Pious - was so closely related to him that it was rumoured she gave birth to a monster with the head of a goose!
Though not as regal, American scholars do lay claim to their own Mother Goose. Most believe she was Elizabeth Foster Goose, who inherited ten children from her husband’s previous marriage and bore him six of her own. Her son-in-law Thomas Fleet published her rhymes in 1719 under the title of Mother Goose’s Melodies or Songs of the Nursery, establishing Elizabeth Foster as the “official” American Mother Goose.
Staying true to tradition, Montmorency’s Book does include a few rhymes of an unknown authorship, possibly having belonged to “Mother Goose” - whoever she may have been!