✦ A Nursery Rhyme ✦

Old Mother Goose

A traditional Mother Goose nursery rhyme

Old Mother Goose, when she wanted to wander, would ride through the air on a very fine gander. Meet the lady whose name is on all the nursery rhymes.

Watch the Read-Aloud Read the Rhyme

Read aloud by Storyland Classics  ✦  18 seconds  ✦  Watch on YouTube

✦ The Rhyme ✦

Old Mother Goose

Traditional English nursery rhyme. Public domain.

Old Mother Goose, When she wanted to wander, Would ride through the air On a very fine gander.

✦ About the Rhyme ✦

Who Was Mother Goose?

“Mother Goose” is the name given to the imaginary storyteller behind hundreds of nursery rhymes. The name was used in France in the 1600s and became famous in England in the 1700s, when collections of rhymes were sold as Mother Goose’s Melody.

This rhyme, from the early 1800s, gives Mother Goose her own adventure: she flies through the air on a gander, which is a male goose.

✦ Talk About It ✦

Questions to Share

  • How did Old Mother Goose travel?
  • What is a gander?
  • If you could fly anywhere on a goose, where would you go?

✦ Keep Reading ✦

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