HURRY, HURRY, MARY DEAR! and Other Nonsense Poems

From Publishers Weekly Blegvad wittily refreshes his late friend and collaborator's waggish poem about a hardworking, much-put-upon wife and her hortatory husband with this masterfully illustrated edition. As he mentions in a foreword, Blegvad models his Mary on the pen-and-ink version drawn by Bodecker himself in his nonsense collection Hurry, Hurry, Mary Dear! (reissued in 1987 and still in print); Blegvad, however, works in watercolors, splendidly reproduced here with a limpid clarity. The heroine, Mary, is a reedy woman. Her nose has a shape that would not be out of place on a snowman, and her white hair is tucked tidily into a bun?at least as the verse begins. Her husband delivers all the lines: "Not a minute to be lost,/ in a minute we get frost!/ In an hour we get snow!/ Drifts like houses! Ten below!" He puts Mary through her (nonstop) paces as the rhythms escalate: "Churn the butter, smoke the hams,/ Can tomatoes, put up jams." In the company of a black cat, Mary toils inside and outside her well-appointed home, oiling snowshoes, stoking fires, attending to sometimes ludicrous tasks (she "strings the beans" by hanging them on a clothesline). With each pause in the verse, Mary sags, her hair unraveling, her shoulders stooping, but she rallies with each new volley of rhyme. Of course, the husband, lolling in a rocking chair, gets his due in the end; what readers get is an absolute treat, two consummate artists making the most of a good joke. Ages 7-up. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal Kindergarten-Grade 4-In one of the poet's best-known nonsensical rhymes, indefatigable Mary, a slight but steady old woman, rushes about preparing the household for winter, inside and out, while her idle husband sits by and fusses about the changing season. As she toils, her wispy white hair escapes from its bun and her ire rises until she reaches the end of her rope and retaliates. Blegvad has taken the poem and turned it into a charming picture book in loving tribute to his poet friend. Using Bodecker's own clever, expressive line drawings [see Hurry, Hurry, Mary Dear! And Other Nonsense Poems (McElderry, 1976)] as the basis for his illustrations, the artist has enlarged each one to a full-page watercolor painting, adding several scenes and lots of endearing details, including a ubiquitous black cat. A visual and whimsical delight.