Author:Steve Roud
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.
[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 TimesBased on interviews with hundreds of people aged from eight to 80, Roud has created a fascinating portrait of childhood in Britain
—— SunFascinating 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 TimesRoud 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 OutMr Roud has collected skipping rhymes, nonsense rhymes, "rude and horrible rhymes", clapping games, and much more, and compared them to the lore of old
—— Times Literary SupplementSteve Roud's magisterial The Lore of the Playground takes us deeper in to a collective experience
—— Times Christmas BooksCarefully researched, elegantly written and well presented ... an absolute treasure chest of children's folklore ...Whether your interest is folklore, nostalgia or trivia, or you simply want a resource book of games and rhymes, this magnum opus will not disappoint
—— Times Educational SupplementCharming ... This is a book to bring pure, childlike joy, as you remember games and rhymes forgotten for a lifetime
—— Mail on SundayChildhood memories will keep flooding back as you flick through this well researched and readable book
—— CountrymanThere is much that is reassuring in this book, which shows the resilience of childhood traditions ... Childhood is a realm we have all inhabited, and it is extraordinary how a jingle, or [a] phrase ... can transport us back to a world of rituals, games and traditions as unbending as those of the Medes and Persians. If you want to make that journey, The Lore of the Playground will certainly point the way
—— SpectatorA highly detailed collection ... In short, this magnum opus is a treasure of a book to be frequently consulted
—— Good Book GuideA superb piece of scholarship but also a quite splendidly satisfying dip-and-read book
—— School LibrarianA meticulously researched project which took me back to my own childhood
—— bookbag.comSteve Roud's magisterial The Lore of the Playground takes us deeper in to a collective experience
—— The Times Christmas Books
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