The Jolly Jingle Book

The Jolly Jingle Book. Leroy F. Jackson. Illustrated by Clare McKinley. 1951/1961. Rand McNally. 30 pages. [Source: Bought]

Premise/plot: The Jolly Jingle Book is a collection of rhyming poems for young children. The poems are often silly and focus on imaginative play.

Poems included:
"Away Down South"
"Ginger"
"The Fuzzies"
"Milky Moo"
"The Banyan Tree"
"Going to the Fair"
"Whimpy Crimpy, Curl"
"Granny Faddle"
"Clatter Street"
"Wicked Willie"
"Isn't it Grand?"
"Chatter Chin"
"The House Beside the Mill"
"The Wooly Owl"
"Sugar"
"Miss Topsy Turvy"
"Going Home"
"I Like the Moon"

My thoughts: I chose this one for the illustrations. I love, love, love vintage illustrations. The poems range from fun to extremely silly and ridiculous. These aren't poems that take themselves too seriously. I can appreciate that.

Ginger

Ginger is a scalawag,
Ginger is a pup;
He got into the cellarway
And ate the sausage up.
He got into the cubbyhole
And carried off a shoe;
There's hardly any naughty trick
That Ginger doesn't do. 

The Wooly Owl

The wooly owl is very wise;
He says that sugar's good for flies,
That pumpkin seeds and Spanish moss
Will never make good applesauce.

Sugar

I want sugar on my oatmeal
And sugar on my bread,
I'll turn into a sugar stick
Some day, my grandma said.
Sugar by the spoonful
And sugar by the bowl--
I wouldn't trade a lump of sugar
for a car of coal. 

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Tim and His Train

Tim and His Train. E.C. Reichert. Illustrated by Fiore Mastri. 1949. Rand McNally. 30 pages. [Source: Bought]

 First sentence: Tim loved trains. He and his Dad had just returned from a visit to the railroad yards. Tim's head was full of thoughts of streamliners, turntables, switching engines, signal towers, and all of the other interesting sights he had seen.

Premise/plot: Tim receives an electric train for his birthday. Does he love, love, love it? YES, yes he does.

My thoughts: This has a LOT of text. Dad has a LOT of information to pass along to his son before the real play can begin. At times this felt a bit like an advertisement for a toy train with a few instructions rolled in. But not necessarily in a bad way.

I am not particularly a train enthusiast myself. But I do know plenty of people in my life who are--of all ages.

I do LOVE vintage children's books. That is one reason I bought Tim and His Train. This one was originally published in 1949. I've seen it listed as 1959, but I can read Roman numerals. And I can't see how MCMXLIX could be anything other than 1949.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers