Bibliography:
Schwartz, Alvin. 1992. And the green grass grew all around: Folk poetry from everyone. Ill. by Sue Truesdell. New York: HarperCollins Pub. ISBN: 0060227575.

Plot Summary:
Alvin Schwartz has collected 300 of his favorite rhymes and poems, and he presents them to readers in order to pass on the folklore tradition.  The rhymes and poems are organized into topics such as “Food”, “Teases and Taunts”, and “Riddles”, and musical notation is provided for poems that can be sung.  Truesdale’s illustrations accompany most of the rhymes, and Schwartz wraps up the collection with notes, sources, bibliography and an index of first lines.

Critical Analysis:
Alvin Schwartz is well-known for publishing folklore, specifically the Scary Stories series, which feature gruesome tales accompanied by equally terrifying illustrations.  Schwartz has taken on a less creepy theme with the collection of rhymes feature in And the Grass Grew Green All Around.  Most of the rhymes are classic and familiar.   It would be rare to find someone who has never heard “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” or “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me” or “Pease porridge hot”.  Most often these rhymes are not initially learned from literature, but rather parents, extended family members and friends pass these rhymes down through the generations.

One vital element to childhood and school days is the way in which children communicate with one another.  Rhymes and poems seem to stick with children, and the more useful they are, the more common that they will be used frequently.  The “teases and taunts” in particular may seem harsh to some adults, but many of them are not only recognizable but some of them are still used throughout a person’s life (such as “sticks and stones…”)  Teasing is a common and perhaps natural form of communication, especially among children, and these folk poems represent a small fraction of the world’s collection.

Truesdell’s illustrations provide additional imagery to the elaborative text.   The simple pen & ink, black and white drawings lend support to the humorous nature of the rhymes.  The rhyme “I scream you scream…” is accompanied by an illustration of three children and a dog chasing after another girl with an ice cream cone.  The quanitity of illustrations in this collection is also impressive, with almost every rhyme containing a drawing surrounding it.

Review Excerpts:
School Library Journal: “These drawings may be in black and white, but readers will never pick up a more colorful book.”
Kirkus Reviews: “It’s hard to imagine a child who wouldn’t greet this treasure trove with enthusiasm.” – Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Connections:

• Have children try their hand at writing a rhyme or poem, and then put all the rhymes together in a collection like Schwartz’s.
• Direct children to put on a skit and act out some of the rhymes.  For instance: “I with I wath a fith” would be hilarious to see children act out.
• For age appropriate groups, read other folklore collections by Schwartz, such as his Scary Stories series.