For nursery rhymes with a bit of a macabre twist, you need look no further than this book. Though the rhymes aren’t changed, the illustrations are pure Charles Addams. Wednesday and Pugsley are featured prominently, but the whole family is represented in the charming but decidedly darker than normal illustrations. You ought to pay a call on this Addams’ Mother Goose! ( )

I'm so happy I found this. I've been looking for it for years, and it has entirely lived up to my expectations. I'll never think of nursery rhymes the same way again. The standard text of nursery rhymes is accompanied by full-blown Addams creepiness. My favourite is "There was an old woman, Lived under a hill, And if she isn't gone, She lives there still." The full-colour, double-page illustration shows a happy little old lady in a rocking chair, knitting her cat a sweater. There is tea brewing on her potbellied stove. Nice and cozy, right? Except that her home under the hill happens to be a bomb shelter, and off in the background we see the decaying ruins of civilization. On some pages the creepiness is obvious, like the humongous, grinning spider frightening Miss Muffet. On others, you have to look at it for a moment before you realize what's wrong: What have Jack Sprat and his wife been eating?!? Then sometimes nothing is actually wrong with the picture--it's just kind of...off. ( )

I was unaware of this mother goose book until serendipity found us both near the children's nonfiction stacks. At first glance of the gloomy cover I was surprised to see the book in the children's section. By the 2nd page of Humpty Dumpty I had found my favorite Mother Goose book. Throughout the 26 verses Addams creates a very untraditional and at times gloomy setting for the Mother Goose characters. Humpty Dumpty happens to not be the usual anthopomorhpized egg, but a painted egg which reveals a baby dinosaur after falling off the wall. Addam's witty artistic style makes this a great addition to a Mother Goose collection.

I really loved this book! It did some of the classic Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The major difference was in the illustrations. The illustrations were somewhat gothic and displayed darker colors. I thought it was a nice touch to the illustrations!! ( )

Not my favorite of Chas Addam's works, but a solid offering with a fun twist on Mother Goose. Classic nursery rhymes presented in an inimitable style, this will be a lot of fun for people who are familiar with the old rhymes and have a twisted sense of humor. ( )