Mavor has chosen 64 rhymes that combine the familiar (Peter Piper and his peppers, Mary and her lamb, Old Mother Hubbard), the not so familiar (“I eat my peas with honey” and Wee Willie Winkie) and the truly obscure (“Go to bed first, / a golden purse; / Go to bed second, / a golden pheasant; / Go to bed third, / a golden bird”). Beyond the variety, however, the art makes this collection shine. Describing the illustrations as “hand-sewn fabric relief collages” (as the copyright page has it) really does not do them justice. On every page, embroidery, knotwork and beautifully dyed wool felt form backgrounds for the dozens of individual figures and buttons, beads, driftwood and stones. The design is sumptuous, and the smaller details enchant: Hush-a-Bye Baby’s cradle is a walnut shell; “Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son John” sleeps in the attic loft of Jack Sprat and his wife; Elsie Marley, who “lies in bed till eight or nine,” is tucked up under her lace coverlet, reading. A fine choice. (author’s note) (Picture book/nursery rhymes. 3-6)
