Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Orchard Book of Nursery Rhymes
Zena Sutherland · 1990
82/100
👍 Worth It
Faith Jaques's illustrations are the main event here — historically researched, visually rich, and warm in a way that rewards repeated looking. Sutherland's scholarly selection brings depth and range beyond the obvious rhymes, and the adult contextual notes make this useful for caregivers as well as children. Out of print but worth hunting for if you want a nursery rhyme collection that will last for decades.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety97
substance78
craft85
originality70
accuracy85
hype80
age-fit90
human-eye85
Penny’s verdict82
Cross-pollinate