One of the earliest and most notable of all Mother Goose books, published in England some time between 1760 and 1765 by John Newbery, was called Mother Goose's Melody or Sonnets for the Cradle. No original copy of this book is available, but a pirated American version can be seen. The book was illustrated with woodcuts, some of them quite crude, but full of life and vigour. Almost exactly two hundred years later, here is a Mother Goose illustrated again in wood with the same life and vigour. This time the pictures are wood engravings printed in six colors, something John Newbery might have loved but could not have done.

The rhymes are the same as they have been through the years. Some of them are very familiar, others, equally delightful, are not so well known. And of course, not all of the more than eight hundred different verses that Mr. Reed found in his research could be included. But the ones here are among those he likes best. And with them and with his pictures he has made so perfect a book that it cannot help but delight children.

From the dust jacket