During the late 17th century, the legendary Mother Goose nursery rhymes and fairy tales started to appear and parents began introducing children to Mother Goose characters. Since then, babies in the cribs are read nursery rhymes about Humpty Dumpty, Jack Be Nimble, Mary Quite Contrary, Little Bo Peep and so many more. When they are tots they can point and identify each Mother Goose character. By the time they are five and beginning to learn to read, they use Mother Goose characters and rhymes to teach them the written language.
Everyone loves the story of Humpty Dumpty. The egg sitting on wall, losing balance and breaks. The disaster being so bad that not even King’s men could help Humpty Dumpty. When you read or recite the poem Jack Be Nimble you automatically envision a young lad jumping over a candle stick. Unless you are Don Mclean singing his mega-hit American Pie. In his version, Jack Be Nimble sits on the candlestick.
Then there is Mary Quite Contrary explaining how her garden grows. Every child imagines a little girl in garden surrounded by plants. Even though they might not know what silver bells and cockle shells are, they do know that Mary Quite Contrary needs them to make her garden grow. With the Little Bo Peep rhyme, every child can identify losing a pet and then being reunited. Children can see the concerned face of Bo Peep turning to pure joy when the sheep return.
But the Mother Goose characters Jack Be Nimble, Humpty Dumpty, Bo Peep and Mary Quite Contrary are only a few. There are over 300 rhymes attributed to Mother Goose. Some other Mother Goose Characters are Old King Cole, Old Mother Hubbard, Tom Tucker and Robin Redbreast. It doesn’t matter what part of the globe you are on or what language you speak, when a child sees a Mother Goose characters or hear the Mother Goose rhymes, they will join in!