Pistes d'exploration

Talk about the characters as the story is read aloud.

Identify and list the nursery rhymes, poems and songs mentioned in the book. 

Compose a short rhyming poem about one of the characters.

Do a picture walk prior to listening to the story and take note of the familiar characters from nursery rhymes and children’s stories.

Practise reciting some of the nursery rhymes mentioned in the story (e.g. Little Jack Horner, Little Bo Peep, Humpty Dumpty.)

Sing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and “Bingo” with the original words.

Write a postcard to a friend telling them what happened at the concert.

The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster

Mots-clés

Humour , Nursery rhymes , Picture book , characters in nursery rhymes , parody , talent shows

Commentaire descriptif

During a musical performance at Ma Goose Farms, Little Jack Horner appears as a banjo-slinging, 1950s-inspired rocker singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” but things go from bad to worse when Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary leaps up from the audience and begins to dispute every one of his song lyrics. He soon becomes exasperated with her heckling, wishing he’d just “stayed home in his comfy corner” and asks “So why don’t you just tell me already? What animals are on that old farm?” An excellent read-aloud choice, children will enjoy the book’s quick humour, snappy dialogue and playful references to familiar nursery rhymes and characters set within the contemporary context of a talent show called “So You Think You Can Rhyme?” Featured characters include Humpty “I am the Eggman” Dumpty, Little Bo Peep as a scatterbrain, and a cat named Puss hitchhiking west for fame and fortune. Bright and colourful oil illustrations shed a comical light on the parallel activities of the audience members, such as Chicken Little peering up at the sky and the Three Little Pigs, in proper suits and ties, glancing nervously at the Big Bad Wolf sitting next to them.