Web Site of the Month--Eclipse
By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 12/1/2004
The familiar rhymes of Mother Goose have brought joy and comfort to young children for generations. Now a new Web site examines the many aspects of this staple of American childhood, tracing the variations of Mother Goose rhymes over time and across cultures. Spearheaded by children's literature expert Kay Vandergrift, the site is the culmination of Project ECLIPSE, an exploration of children's literature using digitized sources, sponsored by the Rutgers University Information Science Council. Created primarily as a college-level resource, the site is worthwhile for anyone who works with young children or has an interest in literary history.
Here you'll find information on the social and political impact of the mythical matriarch, appropriate links for further exploration, and examples of early Mother Goose woodcuts, among other illustrations. The site is also home to the Petra Project, a unique examination of a picture book by illustrator Petra Mathers called Kisses From Rosa (Knopf, 1995). The Petra Project is the only example of a digitized children's book that includes almost every step in the creation of a literary work over a 10-year period, says Vandergrift, professor emerita of the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers.
