First birthday presents for each of our kids were always a stack of board books, and this one was bought on one of those occasions, along with 'Old Macdonald Had a Farm' in the same series, also by Pam Adams. It's no secret that I love anything retro, and these books absolutely tick that box! 'There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly' is a particular favourite because the die cut pages work so well with the story, adding up layer after layer of what the old lady has inside her, and so creating a perfect visual aid for the song. Nursery Rhymes are such a great way of introducing poetry to small children, and increasing their vocabulary, as well as giving them a way of repeating stories to themselves - we all know it's so much easier to learn a rhyme or a song than endless sentences with no rhythm!

If you are interested in finding a book with more nursery rhymes to enable you to sing them to your children, another one of our favourites was 'The Lucy Cousins Book of Nursery Rhymes' because we loved the bright a simple illustrations - Lucy Cousins wrote the Maisy books, and her drawings are quirky and bright, and great fun.