2 h 43 minAudiobook6 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A cat plays a fiddle, a cow leaps over the moon, and a few short lines stay with you.
In The Nursery Rhyme Book, Andrew Lang gathers old verses passed from mother to child, nurse to baby, and playground to playground. These are poems for saying aloud: lullabies, counting games, riddles, and nonsense. Their authors are mostly unknown, but their sounds and rhythms give them a lasting place in memory.
Little Miss Muffet sits with her curds and whey until a spider arrives. A boy and a girl climb a hill, and an old woman faces a bare cupboard. Alongside these small stories come rhymes for rocking, bouncing, tickling, and clapping. Each takes only a few lines to bring a character, a game, or a strange little world to life.
What you’ll discover
- Lullabies and playful rhythms Find verses shaped for rocking a child, clapping hands, and sharing the pleasure of sound.
- Small figures, whole stories Meet Little Miss Muffet and other characters whose troubles unfold in just a few lines.
- Nonsense without limits Follow a laughing dog, a musical cat, and a dish running away with a spoon.
- Words that stay Discover short verses whose sound and rhythm make them easy to learn by heart.
- Tradition passed aloud Explore rhymes carried between generations, gathered by Lang rather than written by him.
Who will love it
For parents and grandparents who love singing to little ones, and for anyone curious about folklore, old games, riddles and the odd bits of history tucked inside the rhymes of childhood.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Lang begins with his own childhood memory
- Some rhymes hide real kings and battles
- Odd characters have stories of their own
- Rhymes are made for bouncing, counting and games
- Riddles, charms and sayings teach and protect
- Chains, tales and creatures fill the middle pages
- Lang closes by tracing where rhymes come from
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 2 h 43 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 6 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le Livre de comptines
Old King Cole calls for his three fiddlers, and King Arthur makes a pudding.
Medium level2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
What do a king with three fiddlers, four and twenty blackbirds and a mouse on a clock have in common? They all live in The Nursery Rhyme Book, gathered and introduced by Andrew Lang.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Lang begins with his own childhood memory
Andrew Lang opens the book with a personal memory, not a rule. Reading old nursery rhymes, he says, brings back lost scenes from a man's own childhood. The rhymes work like a key to a half-forgotten room.
He recalls the floppy picture books of long ago and a wooden box that held his first library. Once he was shut in a closet as a punishment, and his jailers found him happy on top of the box, reading. He knew the tale of Cock Robin by heart before he could read, and he learned his letters by picking them out of familiar words.
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What is The Nursery Rhyme Book about?
It collects traditional English and Scottish nursery rhymes, from Old King Cole and Jack and Jill to riddles, charms and game songs. Andrew Lang adds notes on the history behind some rhymes and on where they come from.
Who was Charley in the nursery rhyme?
Lang identifies Charley as a Prince of Wales living in exile, fighting to recover the crown for his father. He describes the rhyme about ale, wine and a pretty girl as a parody of a song by his supporters.
Are nursery rhymes based on real history?
Some are. Lang links rhymes to King Arthur, Charles the First, the Prince of Orange and Georgey Porgey. He also warns that songbook history is not always trustworthy, so each rhyme is best enjoyed as both song and story.
The author
Andrew Lang
1844–1912 · Scottish poet and folklorist
Andrew Lang was a Scottish writer born in Selkirk in 1844. He lived in London and died in Banchory in 1912. He wrote poetry, novels, literary criticism, and works on folklore. He edited The Blue Fairy Book, published in 1889, and other fairy-book collections, including The Violet Fairy Book in 1901.
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