The lost women of the popular rhymes [audio 6min]
The oral tradition of nursery rhymes was transmitted and sustained almost exclusively by women, who either wrote the first versions of some popular rhymes or original poems that have become later known as 'nursery rhymes'. And yet the names of these women authors are mostly ignored or forgotten. Chris Roberts, author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme, and Cambridge expert in Children's Literature Morag Styles look into these women's stories and the image of women in nursery rhymes.
Read entire article at BBC Radio 4 "Women's Hour"