Customer Reviews

A Great Big Ugly Man Came Up and Tied His Horse to Me: A Book of Nonsense Verse

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Our whole family enjoyed this book. The poems are silly, the illustrations are fun, and we always seemed to laugh a lot. I wouldn't trade those evenings reading with the boys for anything! We bought our local bookstore out and have given them away to friends. We are down to our own copy and need more for our sons homes.

This marvelous combination of nonsense verse and clever illustrations is a joy to read again and again. On first reading it one can revel in the joy of the silly verse and the whimsical drawings, and any child will delight in all the apparent foolishness. But on subsequent readings you will be drawn to the details in the pictures. Suddenly, the signs, books, records, will become the focus of your reading and then the fun really begins. The reader will come back time and again to study the pictures for the fun and whimsy that Tripp has included in his illustrations.

Share this book with a child but make sure to give yourself time to enjoy the bits of fun and silliness that Tripp has included for the dedicated reader.

My wife bought our family copy when it first came out in 1973. She was at a conference in Boston and saw it go on display. Our daughter, born 1971, was raised on it and both my wife and I can quote passages at the drop of a word. Favorites are "The Slithergadee" and "The common cormorant or shag...." Our daughter is now expecting her first child (our first grandchild) and we presented her with our copy. We have recently purchased a paperback copy to read when the child is at our home. Our daughter's sister-in-law read our original copy and is now looking for a copy to read to her son. It is great for teaching children reading and an understanding of art and life. (Yes, I have several Wallace Tripp illustrations.)

When we lived in the mountains, we came across this book at a local small bookstore. We read it to our daughter almost every day, sometimes two or three times a day. We could not stop looking at the illustrations and laugh so hard once we understood what Mr. Tripp was trying to convey with his wonderful, fun drawings. After a while, our daughter was able to sit by herself and recite all that she had put to memory just by looking at the pictures. I am also looking for "Granfa Grigg Had a Pig" book. Please locate one of these for us also. Always good to be entertained by a guy who knows which buttons to push.

There is no way for me to convey the top notch quality of Mr. Tripp's humor and art work in the sketched scenes that decorate both front and back covers and also accompany each verse in this volume. While each of the nonsense verses are wonderful in their own right, the accompanying drawings (with the comments created by Mr. Tripp for the little animal characters he has sketched for each scene) are absolutely delightful!

I received this book as a gift from my husband many years ago and I have worn it to a frazzle enjoying it over and over; it is my healthy tension-reducer and stress manager. Although it is presented as a child's book, I am convinced it was sketched for grownups. I am at a loss for words to tell what an indescribably delicious treat you will find in this book no matter what your age!

There is no way for me to convey the top notch quality of Mr. Tripp's humor and art work in the sketched scenes that decorate both front and back covers and also accompany each verse in this volume. While each of the nonsense verses are wonderful in their own right, the accompanying drawings (with the comments created by Mr. Tripp for the little animal characters he has sketched for each scene) are absolutely delightful!

I received this book as a gift from my husband many years ago and I have worn it to a frazzle enjoying it over and over; it is my healthy tension-reducer and stress manager. Although it is presented as a child's book, I am convinced it was sketched for grownups. I am at a loss for words to tell what an indescribably delicious treat you will find in this book no matter what your age!

I came across this book when I was in graduate school--living with two commercial artists and studying for my master's in library science. We were in a book store one evening when the woman I lived with started pointing out the cleverness of the illustrations and how well they matched the poetic selections. After all these years I remember my favorite--a little racoon standing in the snow very soberly reciting "I do not like thee Doctor Fell, The reason why I cannot tell..." He is speaking to an old country doctor who is walking through the snow wearing a coonskin hat, carrying his bag, looking soooo tired--and here is this animal lecturing him--the scene is both serious and silly---and they are all like that--there is a depth, an intelligence, that brings the reader back again and again. I read my copy over and over. It was in the children's section, but the humor in the illustrations is definitely aimed at adult appreciation.

I got this book from my aunt when I was little. I loved its nonsense rhymes. When I moved out to go to college, my brother stole my copy and took it with him when he moved out for college. To bribe him into giving me my book back, I bought him a copy. My mom got the copy from my brother and is now holding it for ransom, thus I bought this copy to trade for the one that actually belongs to me but you can see how much my family likes this book as we all "fight" over it.

This book is a cherished gift from a friend back in 1973. The ink drawings are very clever and enjoyed by kids of all ages--even the adult kind. Our daughters were all raised with this book and they loved it. I expect that the Slithergadee may have something to do with the eldest becoming an attorney!

This book was one of my favorites when I was a child. I can still recite many of poems from memory 30 years later. I can't wait to read it to my children.