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A Child's Garden of Verses (Dover Children's Classics)

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In order to be a great storyteller, one must have a childhood immersed in reading and imagination. The environment must be of the nature to encourage fanciful play and to explore the world beyond our limited reality.

Of course, there are times when childhood is so horrible that the only safety for the mind is to find a place within itself where life is happy. Robert Louis Stevenson's childhood was a mixture of these two child realities.

Unfortunately, Stevenson's childhood was one of sickness. It was in that sickness that he looked out his window and imagined his world. Of course, having a nurse who read to him daily aided the writer within him.

A Child's Garden of Verses is a delightful collection of story verses which explore the childhood reality of the Scottish 1850's. A child of today should be exposed to these well written tales.

In addition, it gives an insight into the mind of the man who created-Treasure Island, Dr, Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped, and the Master of the Ballantrae. These tales of imagination have entertained generations since they were written.

As he aged, Stevenson got to live his dreams. He lived his last years on the Samoan island of Upolu where the natives gave him the name of Tusitala, the one who tell tales.

The storyteller was buried on Mount Vaea. His grave overlooks the tropical sea where his mind often wandered during his short life journey of 44 years.

I purchased this book to get my five year old daughter interested in poetry. I was hesitant at first due to the lack of illustration and briefly considered buying a version which had more pictures and then impulsively went ahead with this unabridged original. I definitely don't regret that decision now. Inspite of the minimal illustrations, the poetry is so captivating it was able to hold the attention of my 5 year old through many of the poems. The poems are easy to understand even to a little girl as young as 5. It is enjoyable even to me and we found our selves reading poetry all evening. A definite must if you're interested in creating a classic library collection for your child. Some of the other items in my daughters little library include the complete tales and poems of Winnie the Pooh and Beatrix Potter Complete collection...