The Lore of the Playground: One hundred years of children's games, rhymes and traditions - Hardcover

Roud, Steve

3.6

15 ratings by Goodreads

9781905211517: The Lore of the Playground: One hundred years of children's games, rhymes and traditions

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1905211511 ISBN 13: 9781905211517

Publisher: Random House Books, 2010

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From conkers to marbles, from British Bulldog to tag, not forgetting 'one potato, two potato' and 'eeny, meeny, miny, mo', The Lore of the Playground looks at the games children have enjoyed, the rhymes they have chanted and the rituals and traditions they have observed over the past hundred years and more.

Each generation, it emerges, has had its own favourites - hoops and tops in the 1930s, clapping games more recently. Some pastimes, such as skipping, have proved remarkably resilient, their complicated rules carefully handed down from one class to the next. Many are now the stuff of distant memory. And some traditions have proved to be strongly regional, loved by children in one part of the country, unknown to those elsewhere. All are brilliantly and meticulously recorded by Steve Roud, who has drawn on interviews with hundreds of people aged from 8 to 80 to create a fascinating picture of all our childhoods.

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Review:

'[A] delightful compendium ... Roud's indefatigable research proves that a great variety is still being played ... An appealing picture of our children emerges from this book ... As [it] richly demonstrates, there is much that is new to celebrate' -- Sunday Times

'Based on interviews with hundreds of people aged from eight to 80, Roud has created a fascinating portrait of childhood in Britain' -- The Sun

'Fascinating study ... Roud's book celebrates a creativity that is as amazing as it is anonymous ... a terrific book - full of detail, nostalgia and surprises and relentlessly upbeat' -- The Times

'Roud traces enduring traditions, debunks cherished myths and proves beyond all doubt that commentators who insist that children no longer know how to play are simply not looking, or listening, carefully enough' -- Time Out

Book Description:

A fascinating survey of 100 years of children's games and rhymes

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