AND THE GREEN GRASS GREW ALL AROUND: FOLK POETRY FROM EVERYONE by Alvin Schwartz

A. Bibliography

Schwartz, Alvin. 1992. AND THE GREEN GRASS GREW ALL AROUND. Ill by Sue Truesdell. New York, NY: HarperCollins Pub. ISBN 0-06-446214-5.

B. Plot Summary

This is a collection of folk rhymes, poetry, and songs organized in categories such as food, school, teases and taunts, love and marriage, nonsense, rain and shine, and animals and insects.

C. Critical Analysis

This is a fun and easy book to read. The collection of poetry and rhymes are great for students who need help with predicting. Although the teases and taunts section could be skipped over in this day and time of children teasing brutely.

Throughout the book, there are some poems that can be chanted or sang and the music is included with the type of tune. The songs make the poems that much more memorable and fun.

The illustrations are simple black and white cartoon-like drawings. Because of the chosen technique, the illustrations add a sense of humor to each poem and rhyme.

D. Review Excerpt

Bulletin Blue Ribbons 1992

Children's Choices 1993

Children's Literature Database reviews this book as follows: "Perhaps the best collection of folk rhymes I have seen, this award-winning compliation covers many childhood favorites such as "Do your ears hang low? Do they wobble to and fro?" and "Here comes the bride/Big, fat, and wide." Young readers and their parents and teachers can have fun reading the ones they know and learning new ones. Most importantly, we can all come to appreciate how much these rhymes are a part of our history and will hopefully become part of our future."

E. Connections

*other folk poetry books include:

Schwartz, Alvin. I SAW YOU IN THE BATHTUB, AND OTHER FOLK RHYMES. ISBN 0060252987.

Rosen, Michael and Susanna Steele. INKY, PINKY, PONKY: CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND RHYMES.

*Students can read alound in the classroom and then go to the playground and practice and recite some of the rhymes they had learned.

*Students can be encouraged to write their own poem or playground rhyme and perform it for the class.