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Mama Crow frets, ‘This bird is too big!’ \/ Nudges the babe …”<\/em>
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\nIf you’re talkin’ nursery rhymes\/Mother Goose rhymes and their inherent eccentricities (the rhymes themselves and their origins), I think many people would agree that one of the oddest of all is “Rock-a-bye Baby,”<\/strong><\/a> what with the falling baby from the treetops. It’s macabre, to say the least. <\/p>\n
One of my favorite picture book authors is Linda Ashman<\/a><\/strong>. She consistently<\/em> brings the goods. Her brand-new book (Nancy Paulsen Books\/Penguin Random House), illustrated by Italian artist Simona Mulazzani<\/a><\/strong>, is an early-2016 treat. (It’s coming to shelves this month.) It’s called Rock-a-Bye Romp<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, and it almost reads as Ashman’s response to this bizarre traditional rhyme, yet it’s not as if she’s trying to fix<\/em> the rhyme. It’s not as if she’s saying anything is wrong with it. In fact, she does her part to extend the wonderful madness of the tale — yet brings it all full-circle with lots of warmth. <\/p>\n In the end, the baby lands into Mother’s arms. “Sweet little Baby, rocking with me,” she says. (In fact, we learn, she’s the narrator telling the tale.)<\/p>\n “Who’d put a cradle high in a tree?
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Over the rivers, over the farms, \/ Baby flies home …”<\/em>
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\nIt opens with a baby in a treetop, yes. But Ashman asks: “How did you ever get so high up?” She doesn’t really answer this impossible question; instead, a Mama Crow nudges the baby out of a nest he or she has fallen into, and the baby lands on a pig, eventually floating in a boat on a stream and flying through the air (as you can see above). Even more adventures take place in between.<\/p>\n
\nBabies in trees are fine in a song . . .
\nBut you, little one, are where you belong.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n