I’m linking up this post with Read Aloud Thursday hosted over at Hope Is the Word.  See what other bloggers are enjoying reading aloud to their children.

The Short:  I had read and loved Bunny Days with my son and started looking for other books by Tao Nyeu.  That’s when I discovered: Nursery Rhyme Comics (click on the link for an excellent preview of the book).  I feel like I won the lottery when I found this book.   After checking this book out from the library twice and then buying it, I think this is an essential book for us.  My son loves nursery rhymes and my husband and I love comic books.  This book is the best of both worlds.  The illustrations are fantastic and give life to old nursery rhymes making them seem new and fresh all over again.  We highly, highly, highly (yes, three highlys, I know, it’s big) recommend this book.

The Long:  50 different cartoonists got together to make this book.  It is beautiful and wonderful and all things good.  My husband and I really enjoy comic books and I want everyone else to enjoy them, too.  This is a perfect book to start reading to children and introducing them to comics.

I’ve started going through this book and looking up the different cartoonists that I like.  This is where I learned about Ben Hatke and his amazing comic book Zita the Spacegirl.  I also learned about Patrick McDonnell.  He’s written at least two books we love:  Wag and Me…Jane.  His work is beautiful both visually and emotionally.  Most people already know him from the Mutts comic strip, but I must have been living in a dark hole.  It is new to me.

I learned about Matthew Forsythe from this book and as a result checked out and liked the book My Name Is Elizabeth.  I’ve been reading/looking through Jinchalo with my son over the past few nights.

There are a lot of amazing cartoonists here that also illustrate and write picture books that are definitely worth learning about.  This book is like a great sampling to see what styles you and your child like while reading nursery rhymes to your child.  Then you can look up the cartoonists and find other books, picture books, and comic books they’ve created.

As far as reading this to a two-year-old, personally, I have no qualms with nursery rhymes no matter how morbid they may be. (Though I can see why some parents skip a lot of nursery rhymes.) However, while reading this book to my son I never found myself thinking any of the illustrations were inappropriate and some of the illustrations even lightened the meaning and put a positive spin on rhyme.

My son loves this book and asks for me to read it to him over and over and over again. This book makes reading nursery rhymes less predictable and a lot more fun.  I think children, teens, and adults of all ages will enjoy this book.  I hope you get a chance to check it out — you’ll never think of Jack Be Nimble the same again.

Where Obtained:  Public Library

FTC Disclosures: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” If you click on the link and purchase the book, I will receive an affiliate commission.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”