Customer Reviews

A Child's Garden of Verses: A Classic Illustrated Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a nice, extra-sturdy book for toddlers. It includes these eight complete poems: The Land of Counterpane, The Lamplighter, Happy Thought, Foreign Lands, The Cow, My Shadow, The Swing, My Bed is a Boat. Most toddlers won't sit still for the complete poems, but you can just read the first few lines until they grow into them, and they'll have fun looking at the pictures. There are various vintage illustrations in full color by different artists including one of a boy in a tree by Jessie Willcox Smith (Foreign Lands), a charming colored drawing of a Mom showing a bird to her four little ones (Happy Thought), a simple but cute picture of a little girl watching a cow (The Cow) and a picture by one of my favorite Child's Garden of Verses illustrators, Eulalie (My Bed is a Boat). Yet, the cutest picture is the one on the cover by Jessie Willcox Smith. It begs one to wonder why they didn't use her pictures for all the poems. This book is a nice size, bigger than most board books, but still small enough to be handled easily by even very young children.

Thirty years ago, I was taught to read with this. Different pictures, same poems. I learned to imagine and believe in ordinary, yet beautiful things. Even today, in my own writing, I smile realizing how and when I learned a technique, just by listening to my mother whisper these poems nightly.

Aptly named, RLS has the reader remembering the wonderful days of playing alone and with friends, of delighting in the moment.

This edition only has eight poems. The original collection has many more. As a sampler for your child, this edition may serve well. If you are confident your child will enjoy poetry, buy a longer version, and enjoy many times the pleasure and warmth.

All of these years later, these lines to "The Land of Counterpane" come to mind:

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

Your child will gain an understanding of classic children's poetry, of the rhythm and rhyme. They sound eloquent aloud, and read gentle at bedtime.

I fullt recommend "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

The book itself is a good book. But, due to damage in shipping I hesitated to give it as part of a baby shower gift. In Shipping it came to me with a bent cover and a nicked corner. I believe it was sent in good shape, but the plastic bag it was in was torn and greasy. I think that the book should at least been wrapped in bubble wrap or in a padded envelope. They gave me the book for only the cost of the shipping, I straightened out the book as best I could and told the girl what happened and that was that. The book was what it was advertised as, the illustrations were great, it was just the shipping problem. It also didn't get here in time for the shower but came 2 days later, for $3.98 shipping they could have got it to me in a couple days by regular mail.

I buy this book to give as baby shower gifts. Although not all of my favorite poems are included, its a perfect size for new moms to hold while also holding baby, and the solid boardbook design is perfect for when the baby gets to be a toddler.

I bought this version of the book for my toddler because I remembered some of these poems from my own childhood. Most importantly, I wanted "The Swing" in a board book version that my daughter wouldn't destroy. It is a perfect introductory version of RLS's work for the very young. There are only 8 poems, which suprisingly captivate my 2-year-old, despite her short attention span. I look forward to sharing the complete book with her when she's older.

the book is not what i expected, i had a old book by the same name but it had ,many, many more verses.

I bought this for my one year old twins. The pictures are just beautiful and the poetry is great too. While this is not their favorite book, it is my favorite to read to them. I think they will enjoy it when they get a little older - but for now their attention span is that of a gnat and they are more interested in turning the pages than listening to the poems.