Duration: 1st May – 31st October
Number of books: 26
Hosted by: Crazy Challenge Connection

Established in 1987 and celebrated on May 1st, Mother Goose Day aims to promote pre-school reading and learning via nursery rhymes. The term “Mother Goose” dates back to the 1650’s. It doesn’t appear to represent a particular person since many Mother Goose stories were written both before and after this term was first used. And the stories were written by numerous authors. Do you recognize these nursery rhymes?

1. Georgie Porgie, puddin’ and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.
☺Read a book with some sort of sweet dessert on the cover (show us the cover) – or – any Young Adult OR New Adult ROMANCE book. – Beastly: Lindy’s Diary by Alex Flinn

2. All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought ’twas all in fun.
Pop! goes the weasel.
☺Read a book with a chase scene of some sort in the story – or – a book with a sandwiched letter in the title (one letter between two of the same letter, such as PoP). – Awakening by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

3. Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full.
☺Read a book with a “3” in the original publication YEAR (tell us what year) – or – a book with a 3-letter word in the title (you may NOT use “the” as your 3-letter word, nor do contractions count, so “It’s” would not work). – The Alchemist’s Key by Traci Harding

4. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.
☺Read a book where people must work together to solve a problem – or – a book with lots of small pieces/items on the cover (show us the cover). – Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

5. Jack and Jill
Went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down
And broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
☺ Read a book with an author or character whose name is Jack or Jill (no other variations) – or – a book whose title starts with J (disregard A, An, The). – Playing with Fire by Derek Landy

6. It’s raining, it’s pouring;
The old man is snoring.
Bumped his head. And he went to bed.
And he couldn’t get up in the morning.
☺ Read a book with a storm scene somewhere in the story – or – a book where someone is injured (not sick or killed, but injured). – Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

7. Little Boy Blue, come blow your horn.
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.
Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under a haycock, fast asleep.
☺ Read a book with a mammal (animal only, not a human) on the cover (show us the cover) – or – a book with the word LITTLE, BOY, or BLUE in the title. – Veiled Menace by Deborah Blake

8. Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened
They all began to sing.
Now wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the King?
☺ Read a book with a compound word in the title (A compound word is created when two words are joined together to create a new meaning. This may give you some ideas.) – or – a book with the title or author written in black lettering on the cover (show us the cover). – White Tiger by Kylie Chan

9. There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth, Without any bread,
Whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed.
☺ Read a book with a shoe on the cover (show us the cover) – or – any Children’s or Middle Grade book. – The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

10. Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can’t tell where to find them.
Leave them alone, And they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.
☺ Read a book with a house on the cover (show us the cover—should be a residential house, not a building of some other sort) – or – a book whose title starts with a letter in BOPEEP (disregard A, A, The). – Etched in Silver by Yasmine Galenorn

11. Lavender’s blue, dilly, dilly,
Lavender’s green;
When I am king, dilly, dilly,
You shall be queen.
☺ Read a book with a predominantly lavender (light purple) cover (show us the cover) – or – a book with an author’s name that starts with K or Q. – Skin Deep by Karen Chance

12. Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her.
He put her in a pumpkin shell
And there he kept her, very well.
☺ Read a book with a character who has a 5-letter name (tell us the character’s name) – or – a book with a married couple. – The Blood by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

13. Hey Diddle Diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed, To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
☺ Read a book with an animal(s) involved in the plot – or – a book with a repeated word in the title. – After Midnight by Fiona Brand (Jess the dog)

14. Hickory, dickory, dock.
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock.
☺ Read a book with some sort of clock on the cover–bonus if it’s a grandfather’s clock–(show us the cover) – or – a book that is the first in a series (tell us the series). – Moon Called Volume 1 by Patricia Briggs & Sana Takeda

15. Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
☺ Read a book set in a climate that is usually hot – or – a book with a 3-word title (All words count). – The Romantic Poets by William Blake, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron, William Wordsworth & Samuel Taylor Coleridge

16. Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over
The candlestick.
☺ Read a book with a candle on the cover (show us the cover) – or – a book that you finished quickly. – The Britlingens Go to Hell by Charlaine Harris

17. Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating his Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said, “What a good boy am I!”
☺ Read a book set during the Christmas holidays – or – a book with the word “I” in the title (not just the letter, but the word). – The Twilight Before Christmas by Christine Feehan

18. Little Miss Muffet
Sat on a tuffet,
Eating her curds and whey;
Along came a spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away.
☺ Read a book with 2 important words in the title that start with the same letter – or – a book with an insect on the cover (show us the cover). – Jodie’s Journey by Colin Thiele

19. Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
☺ Read a book with a character who is a gardener – or – a book with more than one woman on the cover (show us the cover). – Dangerous Tides by Christine Feehan

20. London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
☺ Read a book set in London – or – a book showing some sort of monument on the cover, such as a tourist attraction, a statue, etc. (show us the cover). – The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

21. Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
And all of them out to sea.
☺ Read a book with a title that has a word with the letter “U” in the middle (not the beginning of the word, or the end, but in the middle; ex: rub, daughter, your, plum–all work; you, up, under–do not) – or – a book with some sort of water on the cover big enough for a boat (show us the cover). – Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan

22. Star light, star bright,
The first star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.
☺ Read a book with a single star on the cover (show us the cover) – or – a book with a word in the title that rhymes with LIGHT. – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P.N. Elrod

23. Do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Do you know the muffin man,
Who lives on Drury Lane?
☺ Read a book with double CONSONANTS somewhere in the title – or – a book with a proper name in the title (doesn’t have to be a location). – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

24. There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
☺ Read a book with double VOWELS somewhere in the title – or – a book with some sort of road trip. – Green-Eyed Envy by Kasey MacKenzie

25. Tom, Tom, the piper’s son,
Stole a pig, and away did run;
The pig was eat And Tom was beat,
And Tom went crying
Down the street.
☺ Read a book with a father and son who are an important part of the story – or – a book that made you cry. – Beastly by Alex Flinn

26. A-tisket, a-tasket
A green and yellow basket
I wrote a letter to my love
And on the way I dropped it
I dropped it, I dropped it
Yes, on the way I dropped it.
A little boy he picked it up
and put it in his pocket.
☺ Read a book with a predominantly green OR yellow cover (show us the cover) – or – a book in which a love letter is involved in the plot. – Wicked by Gregory Maguire