Synopsis "An Alphabet of Old Friends"
Walter Crane assembled this book of alphabet-themed nursery rhymes to help 19th Century children learn the alphabet. Today's 21st Century children will learn their letters, too, m and expand their vocabularies, as they explore familiar, traditional nursery rhymes, adorned with the original illustrations by Walter Crane. Preserving and republishing this, and similar, nursery rhyme collections helps to preserve the literary and cultural heritage of the English-speaking world, which should never be allowed to sink into obscurity. The history and culture of England are the history and culture of many throughout the world, and should always be cherished. Parents, grandparents, older siblings, and care-givers can do few things better than to encourage young children to read, and to give them words of quality to read; Mother Goose's timeless nursery rhymes will feed the imaginations of the children who hear and read them. Nursery rhymes that were acceptable for children of the 19th Century might prove confusing or unsettling for children of the 21st Century, so far removed in tiome from the manners and issues of that time; parents are encouraged to read these rhymes with their children. Debbie Barry, editor of this reproduced volume, is legally blind. Reminding children and parents that blindness does not keep a person from being an active, creative, productive person, nor do other physical, mental, or developmental handicaps, as long as they decide to do everything they can do, instead of letting things they cannot do limit them. Debbie encourages every child and parent to enjoy the freedom of what they CAN do, and to delight in the wonders of life.
