Animal Nursery Rhymes (1980, World Distributors, illus. not attributed)

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A woman in period costume surrounded by animals. Animal Nursery Rhymes cover, published by World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd as part of the Rhymetimes series.

Animal Nursery Rhymes
© 1980 by World Distributors (Manchester) Limited

This nursery rhyme collection, copyrighted by World Distributors (Manchester) Limited (and published with the "World & Whitman" logo) was part of a 4 book nursery rhyme series published in 1980. The other books of the Rhymetime series were:

I'm not 100% sure as yet, but based on their appearance in the 1973 My Nursery Rhyme Book collection, and Google Books entries I was able to find for three of the series, it seems like the Rhymetimes collection may have been previously published by World as part of the Emerald Book series. Also see my review of My Nursery Rhyme Book (World Distributors, 1973).

Animal Nursery Rhymes is a hardcover green book featuring the Rhymetime logo and World & Whitman logo. The front cover features a girl in period costume surrounded by animals (all in natural form but for a little clothed pig). The back cover features another clothed pig, a duck wearing a boater hat, a dog, and a boy piping. Some of these figures appear in the book itself (yet are different – more to follow below), which suggests that the cover illustrator was a different artist from the illustrator of the interior pictures. The endpapers (front and back) are a bright pink, featuring only the white silhouette of the Rhymetime logo.

There is no table of contents or index for the 16 pages of nursery rhymes in this Animal Rhymes collection, but each rhyme has a title so I've collated them here by the titles given in the book. (See end of post).

Unfortunately, there is no illustrator attributed, but if we can trust that the Google Book entry I located for an earlier Animal Nursery Rhymes collection published by World Distributors in 1973 (an Emerald Book), is an earlier version of this book, then the illustrator (as attributed for that collection) is Susan Aspey.

A tawny cat with a white foot. Illustration for Pussycat Pussycat from Animal Nursery Rhymes, published by World Distributor (Manchester) Ltd in 1980.

Illustration for "Pussycat Pussycat" from Animal Nursery Rhymes

I enjoyed these illustrations, particularly those of the animal figures. My favourite illustration was for a rhyme I wasn't familiar with but was happy to learn, about a pussycat with a white foot having a wedding (see above). I also enjoyed the tawny felines of 'Three Little Kittens' and other rhymes throughout the book, the hart that loves the high wood, and the illustrations of this double page spread of rhymes, which show the difference between the near-realistic fine strokes of the animal illustrations and the flatter, cartoonish (but still engaging) illustrations of people.


Illustrations for Tweedledum and Tweedledee, A Robin and a Robin's son, and Magpies, from Animal Nursery Rhymes, published by World Distributor (Manchester) Ltd in 1980. A crow, two boys fighting, two magpies.
A double page spread of illustrations and rhymes from Animal Nursery Rhymes

Other illustrations I enjoyed were 'A Cat Came Fiddling Out of a Barn', the pink pussycat in 'Pussy Cat Sits by the Fire', and the imaginative figures of 'Three Young Rats'. I'd always assumed the 'sorrel wigs' of the rhyme to be normal wigs of the colour 'sorrel' (reddish-brown), but here we see pigs with strips of the sorrel herb upon their head, which was wonderful! All of the illustrations are on a white background.


Pigs with sorrel wigs, from Animal Nursery Rhymes, published by World Distributors (Manchester) Ltd in 1980

"Two young pigs in satin vests and sorrel wigs" from Animal Nursery Rhymes

One thing that puzzled me was how several of the images from inside the collection were replicated (but not identically) in the images that appear on the cover. It's interesting that the images are different – it's makes me wonder why they didn't just copy over the images as they were onto the cover? Was a new illustrator asked to copy the images? If so, why? I've chosen one to compare below. The interior image is on the left, and the cover image on the right. The other cover images I identified as copies of the interior images were those of a clothed pig, from 'Tom He Was a Piper's Son', the rooster and the robin on the front cover, and the duck in a boater hat on the back. The rest of the images on the cover appear to be original, rather than copies from the interior of the book.

A boy in period clothing plays a pipe. Vintage illustration for Tom he was a piper's son Vintage illustration for Tom he was a piper's son
Tom He Was a Piper's Son (interior and cover)

This collection of nursery rhymes appears to be rare – I was unable to find anything at all about it online, and no copies for sale. My copy was a childhood gift, received in 1982. It's a lovely collection and worth a look if you can get your hands on it.

Animal Nursery Rhymes (World Distributors) – Contents

  • Old Mother Hubbard

  • Cushy Cow

  • Hey Diddle Diddle

  • The Miller

  • Bell Horses

  • If I Had a Donkey

  • I Had a Little Hobby Horse

  • Three Young Rats

  • Three Little Kittens

  • I Had a Little Hen

  • Goosey Goosey Gander

  • Little Robin Redbreast

  • Jenny Wren Fell Sick

  • Pit Pat Well a Day

  • A Cat Came Fiddling Out of a Barn

  • Diddlety Diddlety Dumpty

  • Pussy Cat Sits by the Fire

  • Pussy Cat Mole

  • There Was a Crooked Man

  • Hickory Dickory Dock

  • Little Poll Parrot

  • This Little Pig Went to Market

  • Barber Barber Shave a Pig

  • A Long-Tailed Pig

  • Tom He Was a Piper's Son

  • Hark

  • Hoddley Poddley

  • Two Little Dogs

  • Pussycat Pussycat

  • Old Mother Shuttle

  • The Little Black Dog

  • Tweedledum and Tweedledee

  • A Robin and a Robin's Son

  • Magpies

  • A Wise Old Owl

  • As I Was Going

  • The Hart He Loves the High Wood

  • There Was a Rabbit


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