An uplifting and hugely entertaining collection of playground rhymes, edited by Iona and Peter Opie, leading authorities on children's rhymes, and with artwork by perhaps the world's most influential picture book illustrator, Maurice Sendak.

In print again twenty years after it was first published, I saw Esau is a wonderful pocket book collection of over 170 playground rhymes, some of them hundreds of years old. From nonsense to riddles, retaliation rhymes to insults, the chants of schoolchildren across the centuries are revived in this joyful celebration of life and laughter. Sendak's boisterous illustrations revel in the fun, mischief and rebelliousness of childhood, and, as Iona Opie recognises in her wonderful introduction, much of the book's charm comes from its sense of the extraordinary indomitable spirit of children: "In Maurice Sendak's pictures the child always wins".

About the Author

Iona and Peter Opie were married in 1943 and worked together for nearly forty years, studying and writing about children's lore and literature, until Peter's death in 1982. Their books together include The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes and The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren. Iona has also edited two nursery rhyme collections for Walker Books, My Very First Mother Goose and Here Comes Mother Goose (illustrated by Rosemary Wells).

Maurice Sendak has created texts and illustrations for more than eighty books, which have sold millions of copies around the world. He has won numerous awards, including a Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his body of work. He lives in New England.

Reviews
"A pocket gallery of delights...A wonderful collection." -- John Mole * The Times Educational Supplement *
"Cheeky, exuberant and fun." * The School Librarian *


Awards
Winner of Parents' Choice Award 1992 (United States).



Book Information
ISBN 9780744521511
Author Iona and Peter Opie
Format Hardback
Page Count 160
Imprint Walker Books Ltd
Publisher Walker Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 426g
Dimensions(mm) 192mm * 139mm * 26mm