Texas Mother Goose by David Davis

New Favorite

Texas Mother Goose by David Davis, Illustrated by Sue Marshall Ward, Pelican Publishing Co, Inc. Gretna, LA, 2006.

David Davis has used his imagination and sense of Texas humor to create this amusing rendition of Tex-Mex nursery rhymes.
Both Davis and the illustrator, Sue Marshall Ward, meet the "requirement" of being native Texans to write about Texas. Davis and Ward have collaborated beautifully, producing verses with the distinctive Texas twist with appropriate Texas art work.
While written with children in mind, adults will also enjoy this Texas version of well-known Mother Goose rhymes. Humpty Dumpty's ending is slightly changed to reflect life on a ranch:
"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the ranch cowboys and all the vaqueros
Got a big breakfast of huevos rancheros."

Teachers will benefit from this collection as it lends itself well to lesson in comparison and contrasting between traditional Mother Goose rhymes and these Texas styles. Challenges could be made to classes to take other poems and change them to match the students' home states.

Texas Mother Goose is a lot of fun to read aloud and compare. Students will be drawn to the lively and colorful illustrations of children depicting the action, some the students might have experienced themselves if they live in Texas.
And all good Texas children could end their day with the Texas Prayer:
"By the campfire, 'bout to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
Wake me early, wake me late,
But let me rise in the Lone Star State."