Hey diddle diddle: A first book of nursery rhymes (1980, Readers Digest, illus. Anne Grahame Johnstone)

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A girl in a white and red dress carries a basket of flowers that are thrown into the air, and children in period costume try to catch them, while birds fly overhead. Back cover of Hey diddle diddle: A first book of nursery rhymes, illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone and published by Reader's Digest in 1994.A burly woman in period costume dressed as a maid carries a large kettle, while a little girl in period costume dances and a boy blows a horn. Front cover of Hey diddle diddle: A first book of nursery rhymes, illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone and published by Reader's Digest in 1994.
Published by the Reader's Digest Association Limited
© 1980 The Reader's Digest Association Limited
© 1980 Reader's Digest Association Far East Ltd
My edition 1994
Part of the My First Library series for Reader's Digest

This nursery rhyme collection illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone is copyrighted 1980,  only a year after her sister Janet's death in 1979. It is a small hardback book sized approximately 15cm high by 11.5cm wide and is published by Reader's Digest. There is no table of contents or index of first lines, so I've compiled one below (see end of post). There are 30 nursery rhymes across 58 pages (excluding the title page and back copyright page). 

Most of the rhymes are double page spreads, although there are a few that share their spread with another rhyme (like 'Bye Baby Bunting' and 'Georgie Porgie'). The illustrations contain a gimmick rarely seen in books of this era but very common now – a recurring character that appears on every double page spread, waiting to be spotted by children's eyes. This comes in the form of a little white mouse. You can see it in one of the images below.

These appear to be all new illustrations, although there are faint echoes of ones that have come before: 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' shows a blackbird carrying the maid's nose in its beak, which was also seen in the illustration for that rhyme in An Enchanting Book of Nursery Rhymes, and 'Lavender's Blue' shows a boy presenting a lavender crown to a seated girl holding lavender, which was seen in Tinies' Book of Nursery Rhymes. 

A maid hanging out washing clutches her nose while a blackbird flies away holding her nose in its beak. Illustrations for nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence', illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone (left image from Hey diddle diddle 1994, right image from Tinies' Book of Nursery Rhymes 1970)
Illustrations for 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'
from this collection (left) and An Enchanting Book of Nursery Rhymes (right)

A boy in period clothing raises a crown of lavender above his head and a seated girl in period clothing holds lavender in her hands. Illustrations for nursery rhyme 'Lavender's Blue', illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone (left image from Hey diddle diddle 1994, right image from An Enchanting Book of Nursery Rhymes 1980)
Illustrations for 'Lavender's Blue'
from this collection (left) and Tinies' Book of Nursery Rhymes (right)

My favourite illustration from the collection is probably the gorgeously dressed 'Little Jack Horner', and close behind that the illustrations for 'I Love Little Pussy' (gold hair and black velvet) and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' (which must be an early lamb as the landscape is snowy). I also love this image of the candlestick-maker literally jumping out of a rotten potato, which is not an artist's interpretation you often see!

An old man in period costume carrying flaming candlesticks leaps out of a rotten potato. Illustration for nursery rhyme 'Rub-a-dub-dub', illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone and published by Reader's Digest in 1994.
The candlestick-maker leaps from a rotten potato, illustration for 'Rub-a-Dub-Dub'

Another image of interest was 'Hush a bye baby' which shows a baby in an indigenous American cradleboard (I'm afraid I don't have the knowledge to identify which tribal cradleboard style or markings might be copied here – I'd love to know, if anyone wants to share feedback below). The illustration is likely based on the story that the rhyme had indigenous American origins. One story is that it was written by an early pilgrim who saw indigenous babies placed in cradleboards in trees. One (more lambasted) story is that Effie Canning (nee Crockett) (who is credited with creating the tune if not the words of the rhyme), learned both tune and words from an indigenous tribe. 

A baby lies in a native American cradleboard in the trees. Illustration for nursery rhyme 'Hush-a-bye baby', illustrated by Anne Grahame Johnstone and published by Reader's Digest in 1994.
Illustration for 'Hush-a-Bye Baby'

Hey diddle diddle is a vintage collection that appears to be for sale online on various sites at reasonable prices.

Hey diddle diddle: A first book of nursery rhymes – Contents

  • Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
  • Boys and Girls Come Out to Play
  • Bye, Baby Bunting
  • Georgie Porgie
  • Goosey, Goosey, Gander
  • Hey Diddle Diddle
  • Humpty Dumpty
  • Hush-a-Bye Baby
  • I Love Little Pussy
  • Jack and Jill
  • Lavender's Blue
  • Little Bo-peep
  • Little Boy Blue
  • Little Jack Horner
  • Little Miss Muffet
  • Mary Had a Little Lamb
  • Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
  • Old King Cole
  • Pat-a-Cake
  • Polly Put the Kettle On
  • Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat
  • The Queen of Hearts
  • Ride a Cock-Horse
  • Rub-a-Dub-Dub
  • See-Saw Margery Daw
  • Simple Simon
  • Sing a Song of Sixpence
  • Sleep, Baby, Sleep
  • Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
  • What Are Little Girls Made Of?


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