Author Description

Nearly everyone knows and loves at least a few nursery rhymes learned in childhood. We sing or recite them in games as children. We sing them to our children to hush them to sleep. Some are so familiar as songs that we forget that they were originally in that vast collection of rhymes and verses attributed to Mother Goose. Nursery rhymes are an important part of our language, and of our cultural heritage. They should be preserved and remembered for their richness. They carry fragments of our history. They carry fragments of our faith. They carry fragments of our identity. Many of these nursery rhymes are the versions I learned in my childhood. Many have other versions that are not collected here. The words change with time, with place, with the changes in our culture. I hope readers of these nursery rhymes, children and adults alike, will enjoy the versions collected here. I did not write any of these nursery rhymes. They exist in the public domain; I have simply gathered them together as a matter of convenience. Enjoy!