Jack may be the most famous house builder in the world. And no house has ever seen more action. The malt, the rat, the cat, the dog, the cow, the maiden, the man, the priest, the cock and the farmer are all here. The companion piece to "The House that Jack Built" is the traditional forerunner of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Never were Caldecott's illustrations more pastoral and idyllic than in this plea from a farmer's boy to his lass, to "come to the banks of the Aire Oh." And never were they more whimsical. This edition includes 61 illustrations, 16 in full color.
Randolph Caldecott (after whom the Caldecott children's medal is named) was one of the most important British illustrators. He transformed the world of decorated children's books in the Victorian era. In 1877, he was asked by Edmund Evans, the colour printer and talented engraver, to illustrate two children's books. These books were an immediate success and he went on to produce two books every Christmas until he died. Caldecott chose all the stories and rhymes he illustrated and occasionally wrote and added to the stories himself.
