Customer Reviews

A Child's Garden of Verses

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This classic edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses" is justly famed because it so beautifully pairs Stevenson's sometimes exuberant, sometimes melancholy poems on childhood with the extraordinary illustrations of Tasha Tudor.

Tudor's delicate watercolors complement Stevenson's work almost to the point that you think the two, living in different centuries, must share some time-travel telepathy with each other. All the classic Stevenson pieces are here: "The Swing," "The Land of Counterpane," the terrific poem about a child's shadow. Tudor depicts only children and animals herein--as it should be--without the presence of shadow of adults anywhere. Both Stevenson and Tudor understand in their bones that no matter what grown-ups may think, children inhabit a world of their own. That world is mostly beautiful, but sometimes fraught with danger or questions. Those hints are present here, but the overwhelming impression any reader will have will be that of beauty--both in words and in pictures.

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.

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.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Like many others, I first read these poems as a very young child. I didn't realise until rereading them just recently how many of them had stayed with me. The poems all deal with sounds, sights and emotions that will be familiar to most young children. And as an adult, the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson brings back that sense of wonder and amazement that many of us lose as we grow older. One of the poems that I will always remember deals with how difficult it is to go to bed when you are told in the summer when the days are long and the sun is still out. who doesn't remember this?

The illustrations in this particular edition, by Tasha Tudor, capture perfectly the childhood world of the poetry--the imagination in play is wonderfully portrayed. Remember when the space under the table became a cave, or a castle, or a spaceship? These poems and the accompanying illustrations deal with these imaginary adventures that all children share in.

Purchase this book and share it with other adults and with the children in your life. If it stays with you for the rest of your life, then you have gained a treasure.

Truly a walk down memory lane for this 3/4 of century old heart--At one time, I knew most of them by memory--the love of my life as a child and now a chance to go back to childhood- - if only in memory. Every one young or young at heart should read it just once more.

This was THE book of my childhood! I still own this book, and read it even today. I received it as a gift more than forty years ago, and it has lost none of it's original charm. This book introduces children to poetry with beautiful cadence, and uplifting, happy thoughts. The illsutrations of Tasha Tudor are lush and give additional imagination to the poetry. The stories in the poems are of a different time and place in history, but still evoke the innocence present in every child, even today...no matter our age!

When she was a little girl in Cincinnati, my Mother had a beloved copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's, 'A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES.' Many decades later, she shared her love of this poetry with me and my siblings by reading it to us often when we were little. The poem that I most vividly recall her reciting is 'TIME TO RISE' :

A BIRDIE WITH A YELLOW BILL
HOPPED UPON MY WINDOW-SILL,
COCKED HIS SHINING EYE AND SAID:
"AIN'T YOU 'SHAMED, YOU SLEEPY-HEAD?"

Most of 'A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES' is a delight sure to please very young children and adults who have an appreciation for wordplay and rhyme. Stevenson was a master wordsmith whose integration of imagination and verbal rhythms produced verse that sticks in the mind like styrofoam packing-peanuts stick to a wool shirt. But whereas the packing-peanuts are insanely aggravating, the verse is simply charming. Stevenson was not a Dr. Seuss, but neither was he a quack.

I have an out-of-print copy of 'A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES', illustrated with nineteenth century woodblock engravings. I have no doubt that the illustrations by Tasha Tudor in this volume are very nice, but truth be told, the illustrations in ANY volume are next to superfluous since Stevenson is so adept at painting word-pictures in the mind of the reader.

'A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES' will transport you back to a time when a bedsheet and a few dining room chairs was all the boat you needed to have rollicking adventures on the high seas! This poetry touches on all of the things so enthralling to little boys and girls. Pirates and sailing ships, the seaside, distant stars, toy soldiers, galloping horses, howling dogs, imaginary playmates, the moon, explorers, Indians, swings, fairies and Gameboys are all childhood fascinations that find their way into Stevenson's verse. Well, OK, I lied about the "Gameboys" (just to see if you were paying attention), but that brings up another point. This poetry was composed in 1885, which means that the occasional archaic word or mossy British phrase rears its mysterious head from time to time. I like that; it adds a touch of antique elegance to the garden. But if you're going to be reading this aloud to a kiddie, be prepared to explain lamplighters, grenadiers, balusters, gabies and bogies.

Back in 2002, my Mom suffered a small stroke, and consequently it was decided that she should move into the house that my Brother and I shared. At nearly 74 years old, she tends to tire easily. Some days she remains in bed and lets a good part of the morning slip away. When that happens, I'll knock softly at her bedroom door and enquire, "AIN'T YOU 'SHAMED, YOU SLEEPY-HEAD?" That always gets her up to start the day. Aren't the Tides Of Life a wonder?

This is a beautiful book with gorgeous pictures. I remember having this book as a very young girl (75 years ago), and I wanted it for my first great-granddaughter. I searched locally for a coppy with no success, and felt very fortunate to find this lovely book through Amazon. Thanks! I hope Gabriella, who will turn 3 on July 29th, enjoys this book as I did my copy so many years ago.

Everything thing you'd expect from Tasha Tudor! This book is great for snuggling up and sharing special moments with your child. I had a book of the same title & author as a child (with a different illustrator) but only one verse was actually the same in this book. I was pleasantly surprised! These verses are longer and more difficult to memorize for a child, but very beautiful. Stevenson was surely a prolific poet!This book is a classic for every child's bookshelf. Would make a beautiful and very thoughtful gift.

I was distressed with how many of the poems from the original Garden of Verses had been eliminated. I was more interested in the writing and would have prefered all of the text from the original.

The moment my first grandson was born, I could not wait until he was old enough for me to read this wonderful book to him. It's time! The book was given to me when I was 4 and I still can recite most of the poems from memory. The poems and stories of Robert Louis Stevenson are simply the best. If there is a child in your family.....A Child's Garden of Verses is a MUST!