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Summary

Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes, originally published in Great Britain, is an excellent collection of nursery rhymes, from familiar traditional Mother Goose rhymes to short poems for children that will be new to you. This big beautiful book features nursery rhymes from different countries and cultures embedded in illustrations by 77 artists, many of whom are well-known children’s books illustrators or promising newcomers.

I recommend the book for babies to five year olds and also think young independent readers will enjoy the mix of verse and artwork.

The Format and Contents

At about 10” X 11” Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes is a large book. With the 160-page book featuring double-page spreads filled with illustrations and rhymes, you get a 20” X 11” viewing area, which the various illustrators put to good use.

Sometimes, looking at books that use a lot of different illustrators can be somewhat disconcerting, but in this case, perhaps because of the size of the pages and the care with which rhymes and artwork were coordinated, it provides a most enjoyable experience for viewers, listeners and readers. The illustrations, both media and styles, are quite varied and include watercolors, acrylic paintings, pen and ink artwork, mixed media collages and more.

The nursery rhymes encompass a wide variety of types, including counting rhymes, riddles, and lullabies, as well as countries and cultures.

Among others, sources of the rhymes include English American, Chinese American, Latino, Jamaican, Punjabi, Australian, African American, Chippewa and Caribbean.

You’ll recognize many of the traditional English rhymes like "Mary, Mary, quite contrary"; "Little Boy Blue"; "Pease Porridge Hot" and "Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater." However, half the fun is learning new rhymes and enjoying how the illustrations complement the rhymes.

With a table of contents that includes the title of each rhyme, along with its origin and the name of the illustrator, as well as an index of first lines, it’s easy to find your way around the book and locate favorite rhymes.

Elizabeth Hamill and Seven Stories

Elizabeth Hammill OBE, who collected the rhymes in Over the Hills and Far Away, is a critic and bookseller. Hammill co-founded the charity Seven Stories in 1996 along with Mary Briggs OBE. Collaborating with a number of partners, the two worked to develop an institution that would serve as a champion for children’s literature through its collections, events and educational programs.

Purchasing a Victorian warehouse with seven stories in Newcastle in 2002, the charity embarked on a massive capital project. Dame Jacqueline Wilson, at that time the UK’s Children’s Laureate, and Nick Sharratt, illustrator of many of Wilson’s books, presided over the grand opening of Seven Stories on August 19, 2005. In 2012, Seven Stories: National Centre for Children’s Books was accredited through Arts Council England. Over the Hills and Far Away was created to benefit Seven Stories. (Source: Seven Stories website, Over the Hills and Far Away Introduction)

The Illustrators

Some of the 77 illustrators and their books that you may recognize include: Bob Graham, author and illustrator of April and Esme Tooth Fairies; Ed Young, who illustrated Tsunami; Robert Ingpen, illustrator of Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories; Axel Schiffler, who illustrated The Gruffalo; Jon Klassen, author and illustrator of This Is Not My Hat, the 2013 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner for picture book art; and Jerry Pinkney, who won the 2010 Randolph Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse.

Over the Hills and Far Away also contains illustrations by Ashley Bryan, Lucy Cousins, Nina Crews, Niki Dly, Michael Foreman, Nick Sharratt, Niamh Sharkey and Mo Willems, author and illustrator of the enormously popular Elephant and Piggie series, plus many others. At the book’s end, there’s a four-page About the Artists section with a paragraph of information about each of the illustrators.

My Recommendation

The rhythmic language in Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes will appeal to babies as well as preschoolers, primary school age children and newly independent readers. The delightful illustrations add greatly to the book’s appeal. Over the Hills and Far Away would also be an excellent baby shower gift.

This is a book you can start reading to babies even when they are too young to enjoy the illustrations and continue reading to them as they grow old enough to be delighted by the artwork and ready to learn some nursery rhymes. Your children will become very well acquainted with the book’s contents because of your sharing it so often. As a result, Over the Hills and Far Away may well become a favorite book for your newly independent readers to enjoy on their own. (Candlewick Press, First U.S. Edition, 2015. ISBN: 9780763677299)

Related Resources

• Mother Goose Rules! – Article about the benefits of sharing nursery rhymes with your children
• Mother Goose Board Books –Recommended board book editions
• Pocket Full of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes – Book Review
• The Varieties of Nursery Rhymes – Article about types of nursery rhymes