My Very First Mother Goose
1996 PICTURE BOOK
My Very First Mother Goose is a 1996 children's picture book by Iona Opie. It is a collection of sixty-eight nursery rhymes, chosen by Opie from the Mother Goose oeuvre, and illustrated by Rosemary Wells.
Reception
The School Library Journal wrote "Such a spirit of fun and pleasure emanates from every page of this big, handsome volume that although there are many distinguished entries in the nursery-rhyme book field, this one is sure to add special joy to any collection." Kirkus Reviews concluded "There's little point in pretending that even prodigious collections of nursery rhymes can do without this one--it's a must." and Publishers Weekly in a star review called it an "exuberant anthology" and wrote " A collaboration that both freshens and preserves the past, this volume deserves a prominent place not just in the nursery room but on the shelves of all who treasure illustrated books."
While discussing various Mother Goose books, Horn Book called My First Mother Goose a "lap-friendly charmer" and "a fine place to begin," Parents' Choice awarded it a 1996 Gold Award and stated "The rhythmical mixture makes a generous volume distinctive; it's simultaneously pungent, sweet and salty. Rosemary Wells' watercolors have uproarious good humor and unfailing tenderness."
It is a 1997 American Library Association Notable Children's Book, and also appears on an Association for Library Service to Children Book List.
“My Very First Mother Goose” enters the record as 1996 PICTURE BOOK. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Very, First and Mother can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“My Very First Mother Goose” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Very, First and Mother provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28448690. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 1997.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “My Very First Mother Goose” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.