1. BibliographySchwartz, Alvin. 1992. And the Green Grass Grew All Around: Folk Poetry from Everyone. Ill. by Sue Truesdell. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780613182317
2. Plot Summary
Schwartz begins this collection of folk poetry with an introduction explaining his experiences with this genre of poetry and stating, “This book is my personal record of such ‘folk poetry.’” He includes 300 poems in the fifteen chapters with the titles of People, Food, School, Teases and Taunts, Wishes-and Warnings, Love and Marriage, Work, Stories, Nonsense, Riddles, Fun and Games, Rain and Shine, A Tree, Animals and Insects, and Other Things (“prunes, teapots, dentists, ladybugs and everything else you can think of”) as well as background information about some of the poems in the text. The Notes section includes information on different types of folk poetry with fifteen additional rhymes, and the Sources section provides resources and information about the poems “with another twenty-one rhymes.” Schwartz supplies the reader with a bibliography and an index of first lines.
3. Critical Analysis
Schwartz’s large collection of child-friendly familiar and unfamiliar rhymes include wishes and taunts, riddles and games, parodies, nonsense rhymes, stories, and poems about love, food, school, and animals. For each chapter there is an introductory statement of what is contained in that chapter as well as an illustration and a rhyme to spark the reader’s interest. Some poems include music to which it is to be sung while others have historical information. For “The Titanic,” Schwartz includes “The ocean liner S.S. Titanic sank during the night of April 14, 1912, after crashing into an iceberg in the North Atlantic. More than fifteen hundred of its passengers drowned.” The information about “rhymes we use to learn who will be It” and the changing gender roles of jump ropers are some of the interesting additions included in this collection. The detailed notes and bibliography offer sources, variants and related information for those curious to learn more about folk poetry.
Truesdell’s black and white pen and watercolor cartoon-like illustrations express the poetry effortlessly. They are a wonderful complement to the rhymes gathered by Schwartz from children throwing food to teasing to “the old man is snoring” to the personified animals.
4. Review Excerpts
Starred review in Booklist: “The late Alvin Schwartz has left a joyful legacy in this collection of folk poetry for everyone to share.”
Starred review in School Library Journal: “A marvelous book that is sure to become a classic if children have any say in the matter.”
Review in Kirkus Reviews: “It’s hard to imagine a child who wouldn’t greet this treasure trove with enthusiasm.”
5. Connections
· Introduce students to the poem/song “The Green Grass Grew All Around” (Schwartz, 118) through this version on the Reading Is Fundamental site. http://www.rif.org/assets/Documents/readingplanet/ReadAloud_Stories/TheGreenGrassGrewAllAround.html
· Create a class book of folk poetry that students have heard or located through research.
· Introduce students to some of the jump rope, ball bouncing, and clapping rhymes.
