Clyde Watson

Full of vim, vigor, and robust silliness. Father Fox and his russet-furred, pointy-nosed family romp through the pages of these original American nursery rhymes, written and illustrated in the early 1970s by a pair of Vermonter sisters, Clyde and Wendy Watson. Each two-page spread features a quirky little verse on one side and framed pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations on the other. The extensive Fox family, in their patchwork-mended clothes, tumble over one another as they depict the show more very rhymes their father tells. Nonsense blends with nostalgia in both word and picture, and the upbeat rhythms beg to be tapped, stomped, or shouted out loud in such gems as: Ride your red horse down Vinegar Lane,
Gallop, oh gallop, oh gallop again!
Thistles & foxholes & fences beware:
I've seventeen children but none I can spare.

Joining the ranks of Edward Lear and Old Mother Goose, the Watson sisters created a classic with these marvelously zany "pennyrhymes." show less

Father Fox, who first appeared in sisters Clyde and Wendy Watson's 1971 Father Fox's Pennyrhymes, returns in this entertaining Christmas picture-book romp, published in 2003. The poetic text describes all of the Fox family's preparations for the holiday, and their celebration of it, concluding with Christmas Day itself, and the presents under the tree...

With a rhyming text that is a pleasure to read aloud - "Here I am, old Father Fox / With sweets in my pocket & holes in my socks / Bringing show more a basket brimful of cheer / A toy for each day until Christmas is here" - and bright, colorful artwork that captures the sense of cheer and family fun throughout, Father Fox's Christmas Rhymes makes for an entertaining Christmas picture-book. My only quibble - and it is a question solely of form - is with the copious use of the ampersand (&) rather than the word "and" in the text. I can see that this was mostly likely done to save room on the page, and not make the lines too long, but since one reads it as "and" anyway, it felt rather distracting and unnecessary. Leaving that aside, this was a fun little book, once I would recommend to all little foxes at Christmas. show less

Not only a wonderful picture book (any book illustrated by Wendy Watson is a thing of beauty and a joy forever), and a lively rhymed story with a plot that never lags from beginning to end, this is also an ABC book - the only alphabet book I have ever seen that introduces all the most useful consonant variations (C is for Cart - soft C is for cider - CH is for Cherry, the little red mare). Amazing.

When her four children were really as little as the foxes in this story, with three happily oblivious to the mess they created (depicted by the author without sugar coating but with a whole lot of glitter sprinkling and paper scrap strewing) and a baby young enough to fall asleep in the litter — when her children were that little, my daughter found this delightful book too relatable for comfort. But anyone else would love it, including the same daughter, now the mother of children just show more three or four years older. show less