Miss Mary Mack

The clapping-songs and ring-games children kept, and passed hand to hand, a hundred years and more.

Not yet released. This edition is finished and in production. Write to the press and we will let you know the day it goes on sale.

About this edition

Before childhood had a screen, children carried a whole world of games in their heads: clapping-songs and ring-games, counting-out rhymes and games of chase, and passed them, mouth to mouth, from one generation to the next.

Here that world is gathered anew for young readers: the words to sing, and simple directions for play. From Miss Mary Mack to London Bridge, Ring Around the Rosie to hide-and-seek, they are all still here, and still waiting. Clapping games for two, ring-games for a whole grassy afternoon, and the counting-out rhymes that choose who is It.

The games are freely drawn from William Wells Newell’s landmark 1883 collection and retold for today: the scholarship set aside, the rhymes gently mended, and each game given a warm word and a plain how-to-play. Miss Mary Mack, all dressed in black, keeps the door.

Details

• Freely drawn from William Wells Newell (1839–1907)
• A new compilation of traditional games and songs, retold for children
• Solocosmo Press
• The Lightbound Library
• Paperback and hardcover, 6 × 9, 50 pages