Nursery rhymes (or "Mother Goose" rhymes, a term originally used to fairy tales) are short poetry and melodies sung for the entertainment of children. The lively rhythms and simple rhyming lines provide for easy memorization and serve as an introduction to the joys of language and poetry for children. Mother Goose stories were originally based on real events that happened in the lives of early settlers in England. However, many of them have become fictional stories that use traditional elements such as good vs. evil, true love, and miracles to teach children about life. They're fun to sing or say along with and make learning new words easy for young listeners. Nursery rhymes also help develop children's vocabularies by exposing them to new words and phrases. Poetry is also known to improve literacy skills in children because they need to learn how to read and understand poems before they can read and understand novels or other texts. Some believe that nursery rhymes are the origin story of many modern day fairy tales. They may have inspired some storytellers who wanted to play with words to come up with new stories that taught moral lessons. Others think it's just a coincidence that many nursery rhymes tell stories that can be interpreted as fairy tales. Either way, we can all enjoy singing and listening to these old favorites together.