My Very First Mother Goose

　　「鵝媽媽童謠」不但是自古迄今英美口傳童謠的精華，也同時是英文兒歌韻文的另一個別名。童謠總數約二千多首，每首皆有二、三百年的歷史，內容包羅萬象，有猜謎歌、數數歌、搖籃曲、滑稽的幽默韻文等等…。這些童謠的內容饒富趣味、聲韻活潑、用字簡單生動，多數英語系國家把它拿來當作孩子讀書識字前的啟蒙教材，使得孩子不知不覺朗朗上口。

　　從1744年第一本「鵝媽媽」的兒歌集問世以來，就有許多不同形式的版本問世。這本由Walker出版社所出版的「鵝媽媽童謠」擷取兩本書的精華合而為一：「My First Mother Goose」（1996年）和「Here Comes Mother Goose」（1999年）。將兩本書集結為一的編者Iona Opie女士，是研究英國童謠和民間傳說的領域權威，而繪者則是童書插畫界赫赫有名的露斯瑪麗．威爾斯（Rosemary Wells），超強的卡司陣容，使這個版本的《鵝媽媽經典童謠》成為經典中的「經典」。【文∕博客來外文館】

　　The words one first meets in nursery rhymes will always have a special magic," writes Iona Opie in her foreword to this book.

　　Hey Diddle, Diddle", "Humpty Dumpty", "Jumping Joan", "Wee Willie Winkie", passed on from generation to generation, these rhymes learnt in infancy remain with us forever. Divided into four enticing sections, My Very First Mother Goose contains more than sixty of the most colourful and best-loved nursery rhymes.

　　But what makes it so special are the wonderful watercolour pictures by Rosemary Wells, who has created an engaging and exuberant world filled with distinctive characters - rabbits and cats and mice - guaranteed to delight the youngest child. This is indeed a very first book, a book to be encountered at the earliest possible moment and savoured for an entire lifetime.