Amazon seems to have grouped the reviews for several editions of A Child's Garden of Verses together, so it's difficult to tell what exactly is being reviewed. I am commenting specifically on Tasha Tudor's lovely illustrations of childhood life, so beautifully paired with Robert Louis Stevenson's poetry of childhood. Together, image and word are a perfect match, and this is a marvelous edition. I highly recommend it as a gift for any new parent, a special child, or for yourself.
I live with my grandfather, who was born in 1922 and grew up having these poems read to him and then reading them for himself; when he grew up and had children of his own, he read from this book. They were a little bit "old-fashioned" when my grandfather was a boy in the 1920s, but not at all "dated" in the way some of them have become. I am thinking here of "Foreign Children," with its refrain:
Little Indian, Sioux or Crow,
Little frosty Eskimo,
Little Turk or Japanee,
O! don't you wish that you were me?
There are others in a similar vein, and while I am sure that some will object, I find all of these poems to be utterly lacking in malice or cruelty. They espouse the ideology of their time, and that was one of Empire. If you don't want to read the few of these poems that mention race/ethnicity in a way that you don't like, then don't -- or better yet, how about using it as a teachable moment to discuss the ways in which views evolve over time?
The majority of these poems feel timeless, in that they dwell in the land of childhood imagination. Just reading "The Land of Counterpane" sends me right back to the world of childhood and the hours and hours spent dreaming, creating, imagining. Likewise, "The Land of Nod." I know my grandfather feels just the same way, because sometimes when I tuck him in for bed at night we discuss where we plan to travel in our dreams: the Land of Counterpane or the Land of Nod. Very few things are capable of staying with a person for 80 + years; these poems are some of them.
If you have children, or know any children you particularly like, I hope you will purchase a copy of this lovely book for them. It's one of those books that opens a door into another world, and what the child chooses to do once there is up to him or her -- but you can give the key to the door.
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Reviews with images
A child would enjoy this, but...
Simple verses that a child would enjoy because of the rhymes. There is mature vocabulary that even I didn't know. But the artwork is endearing and I love Robert Louis Stevenson.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2013
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Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2018
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2022
Simple verses that a child would enjoy because of the rhymes. There is mature vocabulary that even I didn't know. But the artwork is endearing and I love Robert Louis Stevenson.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
Avid Reader
Beautiful illustrations...What a great way to introduce children to poetry!
Reviewed in Canada on January 3, 2024Camila
Ruim
Reviewed in Brazil on August 20, 2020
Camila
Reviewed in Brazil on August 20, 2020
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Kindle Customer
Sowing the seeds for growing great imaginations
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2021
Atharva
Poems in the illustrated frames
Reviewed in India on October 5, 2019
Atharva
Reviewed in India on October 5, 2019
A nice collection to have for the illustrated versions of A Child's Garden of Verses...a memoir of childhood. It has all the poems as in the original book. The book is of large size and page quality is superb.
This review is for hardback edition of Tasha Tudor illustrated A Child's Garden of Verses published by Simon & Schuster (ISBN-13: 978-0689823824)
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