The Real Dada Mother Goose: A Treasury of Complete Nonsense
In this children’s literature hat trick, Scieszka (the AstroNuts series) and Rothman (Can I Eat That?) mash up a loving spoof of the Blanche Fisher Wright classic, an introduction to Dadaism, and a tribute to Raymond Queneau’s renowned literary experiment Exercises in Style. Scieszka’s amanuenses are a flock of “Dada geese,” who wreak playful havoc on six nursery rhymes, creating six new variations on each. Some speak directly to reader experiences and interests; there’s a cursive-writ book report on “Jack Be Nimble” (“I liked this rhyme because there was some good action”), a pop quiz on “Hey Diddle Diddle,” and several versions involving secret codes. But the best examples gleefully dropkick the old chestnuts and see what new meaning falls out. These include a simile-laden version of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” (“Like a rug hung out to dry,/ Like a humming tsetse fly”) and a “Hickory Dickory” rendered in N+7—a language associated with Queneau’s circle that replaces “each noun in a text with the seventh noun following it in a dictionary.” Rothman collages Fisher Wright’s art (often featuring pale-skinned, early 20th-century figures) with an impressive array of graphic styles, including a comic strip, a map, and a recipe. Brains will be thoroughly twisted and tickled by this giddy, handsome celebration of language and logic. Back matter includes information on the variations employed. Ages 7–10.
Jon Scieszka, illus. by Julia Rothman. Candlewick, $19.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-7636-9434-0