Edward Lear Books

The Harvard Classics by the Collier & Son Publishers has been in print for going on a hundred years now. It's a fine American tradition to stock on's library with these beautiful volumes. The Deluxe Edition was a cut above; with real ribbed fine grain leather, heavy creamy stock, and extra embellishment embossed into the cover. Heirloom quality!

Some of my fondest memories are of reading this book to my daughter, Madeline, when she was four and five. The verses can be purchases in many different editions, but the illustrations are equally marvellous. It is a great loss that they are not currently available.

Even though this is part of the Dover Children's Thrift Classics series, this volume of poetry can be equally enjoyable for older folks. Hey, even a college student like me can enjoy verses like, "There was an Old Man of Three Bridges,/Whose mind was distracted by midges;/He sate on a wheel, eating underdone veal,/Which relieved that Old Man of Three Bridges." The illustrations accompanying each poem add to the bright, innocent humor that Lear excelled at writing.

i read this book when i was five, it was one of my favorites, and i had it memorized with reading it by myself, and having my parents, and grandparents read it with me. this was a great experience, and i will share this wonderful story with my children.:)

I found this book at the Tate Museum in London recently and was completely smitten with the beautiful illustrations. Both of my children loved to recite "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear when they were small. Now my grandchildren will be able to have this book. I've never seen better illustrations of the poem. Wait until you get to the page where "they dined upon mince and slices of quince". It's too adorable!

I've no beef with Edward Lear, but I've no particular love of him either. Best known for his sweet nonsense poems, Lear often comes off as a slightly less interesting Lewis Carroll when discussed in contemporary society. There is one poem of his, however, that I've always had a sweet spot for. "The Owl and the Pussycat" was one of my favorites as a child. I was a romantically inclined tot from day one, and to me the story of a love between two such different creatures was fascinating. Love poems are difficult as it is, and love poems that kids would actually like to read are almost impossible to locate. Now, thanks to KCP Poetry's fabulous Visions in Poetry series, we have a picture book version of "The Owl and the Pussycat" that is smart and sweet and truly beautiful to behold. Obviously you should have an original version of this story with Lear's own illustrations in your library. If, however, you've a yen for something one-of-a-kind and stunning (with a social message of vast importance, no less) look no further than here.

You probably know the poem in its original form. An owl and a pussycat are in love. They sail away, find a pig, get married, and live happily ever after. Straightforward tale, no? No. Under the hand of illustrator Stephane Jorisch, Lear's poem takes on layers of significance that perhaps even he couldn't have predicted. In this tale the pussycat is a bohemian beauty, prone to eclectic clothing and thick-soled boots. The owl, for his part, is undoubtedly a businessman but the two strike up a touching romance. Unfortunately all around them the tongues wag. Animals stick strictly to their own kind and the lovers flee in a boat to "the land where the bong-tree grows". Here they find a far more open society, where people of every conceivable mix of animal happily converge and talk over tea. The piggy-wig, a Blake-like kind of character, presides over all and the wedding of the happy pair comes via a turkey (holding, I might add, a copy of Darwin's, The Origin Of Species for kicks). The ending is all feasting and dancing with a brilliant blue moon shining above.

The "Visions in Poetry" series consistently produces high-quality interpretations of classic poems with the aid of some of the best illustrators working in the field today. For example, there was the inner city take on Casey at the Bat as interpreted by the artist Joe Morse. That book was not only original, but also the new look it sported melded perfectly with the words. In the case of "The Owl and the Pussycat" the pictures here are by one Stephane Jorisch and we've a very similar case of seamless originality. Mr. Jorisch isn't entirely unknown to me. I remember seeing his work on the picture book, Oma's Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois some years back. But while "Oma" was perfectly nice, you would never have gotten a sense that the illustrator was capable of merging, "Fellini, the art of Miro and The Beatles' Yellow Submarine as is found here. This isn't Jorisch's first work with KCP Poetry, mind you. As I recall he did a rather inventive Jabberwocky some time ago as well. Who else would give Carroll's work a futuristic bent? There's real heart to his take on Lear's poem, though. I don't know if this was his interpretation or that of KCP Press, but to make this story a tale of love across mores and uptight morals is perfect for this day and age. You look at this story and see you creatures that might be considered abominations against nature, like unicorns and mermaids, in a warm and open society... well that just has all kinds of implications for us today, does it not? If someone comes up to me asking for gay-friendly literature, I don't think it would be much of a stretch to hand them this book for kicks. It is, after all, a book of love in the purest sense.

Half the fun of the Visions in Poetry series is reading the Afterwards. The piece on Edward Lear speculates that perhaps there's an "undercurrent of melancholy" to his poems that critique the repressiveness of English society of his time. A repressiveness just ripe for Jorisch's pencil, ink, and watercolors. Consider too that in Canada, Jorisch is their David Wiesner. He's won the Governor General's Award for Illustration (their version of the Caldecott) three times already. Give this book a gander and you'll see why. Not only is it a joy to page through, but I loved the little details as well. The pussycat carries around a folder of what might well be her art while the owl sports a briefcase. Both owl and pussycat carry masks of their own faces before they leave in their boat and I love that once they relax in the presence of the pig, the owl opens the collar of his shirt and the pussycat removes her heavy black boots.

For the children of my generation, perhaps "The Owl and the Pussycat" will conjure up the owl and kitty characters on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (think about it). The nice thing about Jorisch's interpretation of the story is that it presents that killer combination of the kid-friendly with the adult-friendly. Children will enjoy the story (how could they not when there are friggin' MERMAIDS in it?) and the irony-laden sophisticates amongst us will display it prominently on their coffee tables. Under normal circumstances I dislike children's books that play to an adult audience, but this book will appeal to both age groups without difficulty. This Valentine's Day, give the kiddies some romantic poetry with a bit of a kick to it. Read this version of "The Owl and the Pussycat" alongside Russell Hoban's remarkable picture book, "The Marzipan Pig", and you'll have an excellent combination of love, both requited and un, to present to the masses.

Kids Can Press under the imprint KCP Poetry are putting out a delightful series of classic poems. I say `delightful' because they are - lovely illustrations, hardbound, and just really well done. These are the kind of books you would want to add to your collection.

If you aren't already familiar with Edward Lear's poetry, this volume is a good introduction. Known as a "nonsense" poet of the Victorian era, Lear had a charming touch with words.

In The Owl and the Pussycat a decidedly odd couple fall in love and decide to get married. You've probably heard at least this part of the poem before:


The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.


Stephane Jorisch's whimsical illustrations suit the poem very well and add to the overall delightful (there's that word again) feel of this book. Included in the back are brief bios of both the poet and the illustrator, again making this a nice collector's item.

Recommended for lovers of poetry and Edward Lear. Good for all ages (though, honestly, the books are so nice I would probably not let my little grubby-fingered one handle it by himself).

This is a collection of great nonsense verse from Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, most of which stands the test of time - beautifully illustrated by Nick Palin. My children (2 and 4) have adored this book for over a year now. They read it themselves - or at least look long and hard at the illustrations, and bring it to me to read to them over and over.

Most of these poems can easily be found in other books or collections. The advantage of this collection is that it is a small number of very good poems and (as I said before) they are really well illustrated. My children have rapidly learned quite a bit of each of the poems just from frequent re-reading.

Poems include The Crocodile, the Owl and the Pussycat, the Dong with the luminous nose, the Walrus and the carpenter - and my children's favourite - the Jumblies. I really enjoy The New Vestments which is one I had not seen before

In the rear of the book is the Index of titles and first lines which makes it simple to track down anything you particularly want to read.

I would definitely recommend this as a must have for a children's library. It is one of those lovely books which has opened my children's eyes to poetry and reading.

A strange critter, the Quangle Wangle. Lives is a tree and is almost completely covered by a very strange hat. The Quangle Wangle is lonely but this is soon taken care of by a group of other strange critters who decide the hat is the ideal place to take up residents. There are several versons of this particular book out there using at least three different illustrators or artists. All are quite good, all contain the wonderful nonsense rhymes of th author, and I suppose it all boils down as to which version you were raised with as to which is your favorite. All are excellent reading, all have excellent illustrations. Just a warning though, if you purchase this book, be sure you purchase the one that you have in mind...it can be a bit confusing. Recommend this one highly.

In an age when children are all fed the same diet of movies and TV shows, Eric Idle's work speaks to the individual, the special creative person in each child. The story, the style, the humor lets me laugh while reading it to children, and lets them laugh while hearing it (not to mention the laugh they get watching me laugh). The point? This is a wonderfully written story that pleases and amazes children and adults. If there is a person on AMAZON who hasn't already enjoyed Eric Idle's other work (not to mention his Monty Python work), then this is a great start