A Book of Nonsense (Children's Classics) (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"He reads but he cannot speak Spanish, / He cannot abide ginger-beer; / Ere the days of his pilgrimage vanish, / How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!" writes the 19th-century English poet Edward Lear in "Self Portrait of the Laureate of Nonsense." When The Book of Nonsense was first published in 1845, under Lear's pseudonym, Derry Down Derry, it was a success--some say it turned the once stodgy, didactic world of children's literature on its head.

This rollicking poetic romp begins with "A Book of Nonsense" (1846), a slew of more-odd-than-bawdy limericks about the Young Lady of Wales, the Old Man of Vienna, and many, many more, all accompanied by the spare, whimsical ink drawings done by Lear himself. Part two urges readers to leap into "Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets" (1871), including the classic "The Owl and the Pussy-cat" and "The Jumblies" (who "went to sea in a Sieve"), along with equally rib-tickling but lesser known selections such as "The Nutcrackers and the Sugar-Tongs." In this section, you'll also discover instructions for how to make Crumbobblious Cutlets, a "Nonsense Botany" guide featuring the Bottlephorkia spoonifolia and the Manypeeplia upsidownia, and "Nonsense Alphabets," strange little poems about quills, rattlesnakes, screws, and other words beginning with letters.

Part three merrily inflicts "More Nonsense Pictures, Rhymes, Botany, &c." (1877) on readers with the well-known plant Washtubbia circularis and more wacky limericks such as "There was an old person of Bar, / Who passed all her life in a jar, / Which she painted pea-green, to appear more serene, / That placid old person of Bar." As icing on a very strange cake, the last section offers "Laughable Lyrics, A Fourth Book of Nonsense Poems, Songs, Botany, Music, &c." (1877), notably including "The Pobble Who Has No Toes." Lear's quirky sense of humor infuses every line of his ever skillful verse, which is often alliterative, and always very silly. Lear, the Laureate of Nonsense, frolics frivolously, and no one should ever go to sea in a Sieve without a copy of this book in tow. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

Review

'A magic song-writer, with something like a reverence for the absurd.' - Times Literary Supplement

'I really don't know any author to whom I am half so grateful for my idle self as Edward Lear. I shall put him first of my hundred authors.' - John Ruskin

A magic song-writer, with something like a reverence for the absurd. - Times Literary Supplement

I really dont know any author to whom I am half so grateful for my idle self as Edward Lear. I shall put him first of my hundred authors. - John Ruskin --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Everyman's Library (November 3, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679417982
• ISBN-13: 978-0679417989
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #543,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every child needs some nonsense, October 1, 2000

By	"jwelkin" (Lago Vista, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Nonsense (Wordsworth Children's Classics) (Wordsworth Classics) (Paperback)

Edward Lear's nonsense is of the best. Read it aloud! Your kids will amaze you by how fast they can begin to recite along with you! If you remember "The Owl and the Pussycat" from your childhood, you owe it to yourself and your children to share it and "The Jumblies" with them.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic for all ages!, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

Wow. I'm so glad this book still exists! This was a book I must have checked out from the library over a dozen times as a kid. Lots of fun.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So You Don't Get It, January 18, 2002

By	"rushnpaul" (OH) - See all my reviews

I can see why Stacy of California thinks this is a weird "incomprehendable" book. The word is "incomprehensible" Stacy. It takes a person of a proper old-fashioned education to appreciate this fine piece of classic literature. We oldsters don't get weird modern art either, or some of the wacky movies Hollywood gives awards to but no one can imagine why.