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The History of Mother Goose Rhymes

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When it comes to Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes not many of us know the history behind it. One thing that is interesting is that Mother Goose nursery rhymes are actually only well known in English speaking countries, United States and England being the two most popular spots for these nursery rhymes. Many people don’t know that these rhymes were actually created to help teach children different concepts, but they were also created to help soothe little ones to sleep when they were crying.

Here is a look at the history of mother goose nursery rhymes.

1650 – The earliest known written reference, which uses the term ‘Mother Goose’ in relation to a collection of stories, was in a monthly periodical. This periodical was written by the French critic Jean Loret (1610 – 1665). It was in his 1650 “La Muse Historique” which contains the line, “Comme un conte de la Mere Oye” which translates into “Like a Mother Goose story”.

1697 – During this year Charles Perrault, who was a French man, published a collection of eight famous folk tales. This collection included Sleeping Beauty. Little Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella. The name of this collection was called “Histories and Tales of Long Ago, with Morals. And the front page of the word actually contained the words “Contes de ma mere l’Oye or “tales of Mother Goose