Research Paper / 331Mother Goose
3Mother Goose Rhymes: Their Influence on Children’s
Literary Introduction, Imagination, and Reading ReadinessMother Goose has survived generations of critics. Some authorities (Grover, 1915, p. 1) pro-
fess that the most trying test of all for Mother Goose has been through the honest and often
unrestrained criticism of children. These rhymes have survived because of their ageless quality
of rhythm, rhyme, and motion (Arbuthnot, 1944, p. 3), and they have been passed from parent
to child for generations (Parker, 1969, p. 46), becoming such a part of the English-speaking
world that some believe (Becker, 1974, p. 11) it is a handicap for a child not to know the
rhymes. The nursery rhymes of Mother Goose, loved and recited by generations of children,
help introduce children to good literature, create fantasy friends, provide contentment, stimulate
imagination, and promote learning.
According to legend, Mistress Elizabeth Goose, known widely as Mother Goose, lived in Bos-
ton 200 years ago. She is supposed to have recited her varied rhymes to her numerous grand-
children. According to Grover (1915, p. 2), Thomas Fleet, son-in-law to Dame Goose, published
her nursery rhymes in order to make some well-deserved money. Today, tourists and children
still visit the site in Boston where Dame Goose is believed to be buried (Huck & Kuhn, 1968, p.
62). Contrary to the Mother Goose legend, most authorities (Huck & Kuhn) agree that Mother
Goose appeared in 1697 as the title of a book of fairy tales by Charles Perrault.