The Early Childhood Commission (ECC) has forged a partnership with author, Steven Golding, to distribute his collection of nursery rhymes celebrating Jamaican heritage to the island’s 2,500-plus early-childhood institutions (ECIs).

The book, titled Daddy Marcus Nursery Rhymes, pays homage to Jamaica’s first National Hero, the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey. It features 16 nursery rhymes, which repair European versions, such as the Three Blind Mice, with Jack Mansong, which tells the story of Mansong, who escaped enslavement in the 1770s and formed a runaway maroon community in St Thomas-in-the-East. Other titles included in the work are Timbuktu is Going Up, which repairs London Bridge is Falling Down and Bo Bo Ashanti, which repairs Baa Baa Black Sheep.

Golding handed over approximately 500 copies of the book to the ECC at its office in downtown Kingston last Friday. The copies were the first batch of nursery rhymes that were procured by corporate sponsors J. Wray & Nephew Foundation, Sanmerna Foundation, JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, Wisynco and Cari-Med Group.