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| My Best Book of Nursery Rhymes © Valerie Anne Limited 1984 Award Publications 1984 Reprinted 1990 ISBN 086163456X |
Although the cover of this nursery rhyme collection only attributes Anne Grahame Johnstone as the illustrator, the title page attributes both Grahame Johnstone sisters. I'm not really sure why this discrepancy exists, as the original copyright of 1984 was after Janet's death in 1979, and the gap between 1984 and my reprint of 1990 wouldn't seem to have made any difference.
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| Title page of My Best Book of Rhymes, © 1984, reprint 1990 |
The compiler, Alan Blackwood, worked in the publishing industry and had an interest in music, which is possibly how he ended up compiling this book of nursery rhymes for Award. I'm not sure exactly how much compiling (perhaps rather editing?) was required, as this book appears to be a compilation of two earlier books illustrated by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone and published by Young World Productions in 1969 and 1970.
There are 76 rhymes in this collection, across 93 pages. Half of those rhymes (38) repeat the text and illustrations of Nursery Rhyme Treasury, published by Young World Productions in 1970. At first I thought perhaps Blackwood had selected another 38 and Anne had illustrated these herself, but the beautiful italicised typeface is the same, and then it occurred to me that the other 38 rhymes are most likely from Nursery Rhymes, published by Young World Productions in 1969, the book that Nursery Rhyme Treasury was designed to be a companion to. I don't have a copy of Nursery Rhymes so can't confirm – I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows.
My Best Book of Rhymes has glossy white paper, compared with the faded matte of the 1970 Nursery Rhyme Treasury and the images are subsequently sharper and brighter. The more recent collection is also a slightly larger book, which allows more white space. Sometimes I thought that showed the illustrations to advantage; at other times I thought it made some of the illustrations from Nursery Rhyme Treasury look quite small, compared with some of their neighbouring illustrations. It's important to note that the typography is not identical to the earlier publication – the typeface looks the same but the placement of the text has frequently shifted. This means for a rhyme like 'Oranges and Lemons' the white space, sizing, and positioning is less ideal in the newer collection (although the glossy white paper and brighter, sharper images perhaps make up for that!):
One other difference in this new collection is the endpapers – I really liked the simplicity of these, with their boxes of 4 characters per page. See this sample:
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| Excerpt from the endpapers |
Unlike some nursery rhyme collections that compile previously published books of rhymes, this reworking is not a simple copy and paste of a set – I can confirm that all the nursery rhyme illustrations from Nursery Rhyme Treasury are repeated here (excluding dustjacket, endpapers, contents and title pages), but the illustrations from Nursery Rhyme Treasury are interspersed amongst the other illustrations (whether these other illustrations are new or a reprint from Nursery Rhymes). There is a helpful contents page outlining what's included (see below). We begin with 'The Mulberry Bush' and end with four rhymes about night and bedtime.
All the many things to love about Grahame Johnstone illustrations are here: divine period costumes, great hair, rich colours, and dancing children. There are some truly beautiful illustrations in this book. Favourites for me were 'Ring-a-ring o Roses', 'The Little Nut Tree', 'Little Jack Horner', and a stunning Tuesday's child.
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| Illustration for 'Little Jack Horner' |
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| Illustration for 'Tuesday's child' |
There are some lovely double page spreads, for 'Boys and Girls Come Out to Play', 'Sing a Song of Sixpence', and 'Ride a Cock-Horse'. I found the illustration for 'Ladybird, Ladybird' unusual, showing her home (a leaf) on fire, and 'Humpty Dumpty' was interesting, showing an ornate (Fabergé/Pysanky?) egg for Humpty Dumpty (similar but different to the one illustrated in Tinies' Book of Nursery Rhymes).
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| Illustration for 'Humpty Dumpty' from My Best Book of Rhymes (1984) |
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| Illustration for 'Humpty Dumpty' from Tinies' Book of Nursery Rhymes (1979) Also see my review. |
The rhyme that starts this collection, 'The Mulberry Bush', has a second verse I've never come across before and can't find anything out about online: "Who shall we send to fetch him out on a cold and frosty morning?" Is anyone familiar with that variant? I enjoyed the wildness of its wintry illustration:
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| Illustration for 'The Mulberry Bush' |
While I prefer the cover of Nursery Rhyme Treasury, and some of its rhymes and illustrations appear to their best advantage in its pages, all are covered here, and some appear brighter and better in this newer format. Given that Nursery Rhyme Treasury is harder to find, if you love the art of the Grahame Johnstone sisters, I think My Best Book of Rhymes is a must-have. Also see my review of Nursery Rhyme Treasury.
My Best Book of Nursery Rhymes – Contents
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