Mary Had a Little Jam and Other Silly Rhymes

Mary Had a Little Jam and Other Silly Rhymes

Title: Mary Had a Little Jam and Other Silly Rhymes

Genre: Poetry

Created by: Bruce Lansky

Illustrator: Stephen Carpenter

Awards: 2004 iParenting Media Back to School Awards

Age group: 4-7 years old

I honestly love this book, I think it is so funny, it is a great way to get kids interested in poems and it is ultimately just a good read. I do admit when I first saw this book I thought it was the classic stories or rhymes but you’ll see it isn’t quite just that.

Summary:

This book has a collection of multiple classic nursery rhymes and poems that are somewhat well-known and also includes some new ones too, but what this book does is it puts a little twist on it, which makes it really silly. Like “Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, licking an ice cream cone. Along came a spider who dangled beside her -she told him to get his own” I love that! Another example that I loved would be “Old King Cole was a chubby old soul who love to play the fiddle. When given the chance, he’d often dance, till his pants split down the middle”. Altogether, this book is a great read for children. This book doesn’t really go in any type of story order so there isn’t a distinct ending.

I believe I would definitely use this for my classroom, because it could get them interested in poetry and it is a great book throughout. It also is easy enough to where they could probably read it on their own as well. They will most likely know some of the poems which is also good, because it makes it more fun.

The grade level for this book would be from Pre-K to 2nd grade. I believe this is an easy read, with big fonts and has about one poem per page. I also believe this is good for all ages to enjoy. This can also be a great read aloud for the younger kids.

An activity I would do with this book would be after reading it aloud to class, the students will then pick their favorite rhyme or poem and then add their own silly twist to it, just like the book did. Then they will share it with the class. This would be a great activity for a fun little writing practice to go with the book.

HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy