This collection of verse offers 170 rhymes: rhymes of insult and retaliation; of teasing and repartee; rhymes for skipping and for counting out; riddles, tounge-twisters, narratives and nonsense - rhymes that have been chanted by children for generations.

The second revised edition of this dictionary bringing together over 500 nursery rhymes, songs, nonsense jingles, lullabies, and rhyming alphabets traditionally handed on to young children. This book incorporates results of recent scholarship and includes a new essay on the singing tradition of nursery rhymes. Each item comes with extensive notes.

Few attempts have been made to record the games children in fact play. This was the authors' pertinent observation in 1969, and it was this gap that they sought to fill with their survey, through the 1960s, of the games that children 'in fact play' aged roughly between six and twelve years of age, and when outdoors - and usually out of sight.

Records games played in the street, park, playground and wasteland of more than 10,000 children from the Shetland Isles to the Channel Islands. This volume focuses on starting a game, and games involving chasing, catching and seeking, and includes favourites such as The Dreaded Lurgi, What's the Time Mr Wolf, Stuck in the Mud, and British Bulldog.

The Oxford Nursery Rhyme Book contains 800 nursery rhymes and ditties which are the heritage of our oral tradition. All the well-known rhymes are included as well as many rare ones. Special sections are devoted to lullabies and dandling rhymes, toe rhymes, catches, charms, traditional street cries, riddle verses, nursery maxims, and humorous ballads. The text is further enlivened by 600 ...

First published in 1959, this is a pathbreaking work of scholarship that is also a splendid and enduring work of literature. Going outside the nursery, with its assortment of parent approved entertainments, to observe and investigate the day-to-day creative intelligence and activities of children, the Opies bring to life the rites and rhymes, jokes and jeers, laws, games, and secret spells of ...

Presents charming, but little-known, nursery rhymes from the far reaches of shared memory. This work helps you discover Mrs Whirly the Fish Fryer, the Wee Melodie Man and many other wild and wonderful characters.

Lists superstitions, both common and obscure. These include divinations, spells, cures, charms, signs and omens, rituals and taboos. Each superstition is placed in context through quotes that offer a picture of usage, history, and evolution. This fascinating dictionary is meant for those with an interest in superstitions.

This volume contains over 55 favourite nursery rhymes, each illustrated for the very young. It is divided into four sections, uses large easy-to-read type and has one rhyme to a page.

Divided into four sections, this anthology contains more than 60 of the most colourful and best-loved nursery rhymes, including "Humpty Dumpty" and "Hey Diddle, Diddle". These are illustrated with watercolour pictures of distinctive characters - rabbits, cats and mice - by Rosemary Wells.