Sunday, April 25, 2010

Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes

A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery.
Learning nursery rhymes assists in the development of vocabulary and in some cases basic counting skills.  It also introduces children to enjoy music.  Often actions, movement or dances are associated with these nursery rhymes and children's songs.
"A Tisket A Tasket"
"Rub-A-Dub-Dub"
Neither of these are found in the Mother Goose book.  But you get the idea.

Have you ever explored the history or origins of the nursery rhymes?
I have one of the oldest copies of Mother Goose dated 1916.  There is now a new printing of it in 1994.
Identical in every way except for the change in the index.  The original was not alphabetical but the new edition is which is very helpful to say the least.
Back to the history of the nursery rhymes.  Check them out on your computer.   Too much to write when it is right there for you at your finger tips as I did.  I printed out a lot of them to make it easy to share with others.
The Mother Goose rhymes content tend to fall into four categories.
1.  Lullabies
2.  Infant amusement and education
3.  Riddles
4.  Rhymes with historical under tones

After reading a lot, and there is a lot, of the history of these rhymes I was really wondering how the historical ones could be considered for children's amusement.  It reminds me of the nasty cartoons we see published in our many periodicals.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Following you will see a Russian teapot, a reproduction, but no less valuable.  A gift from my husband from a traveling Russian exhibit.
The cup & saucer are also Russian but I do not know how old they are.  They go together nicely in my estimation.
I buy for beauty and shape but still am concerned about price.  The pieces are used and enjoyed. Over the years I have learned that mint condition is very important.  Having a small chip of any size can bring the value down by a third from what it would be if it were perfect.

You will find this Russian teapot and many others teapots that I have acquired listed in a great collector's book, "Teapots",  by author, Tina M. Carter.

My teapot collection started by sheer accident back in 1976 when I went to visit my family in England  for the first time.  I had cousins by the dozens as they say but had never met them.


     Tea Maker
Steeped in His Word
Infused with His love
Sweetened by His Spirit
Stirred from above.