In an age when children are all fed the same diet of movies and TV shows, Eric Idle's work speaks to the individual, the special creative person in each child. The story, the style, the humor lets me laugh while reading it to children, and lets them laugh while hearing it (not to mention the laugh they get watching me laugh). The point? This is a wonderfully written story that pleases and amazes children and adults. If there is a person on AMAZON who hasn't already enjoyed Eric Idle's other work (not to mention his Monty Python work), then this is a great start

Even though this is part of the Dover Children's Thrift Classics series, this volume of poetry can be equally enjoyable for older folks. Hey, even a college student like me can enjoy verses like, "There was an Old Man of Three Bridges,/Whose mind was distracted by midges;/He sate on a wheel, eating underdone veal,/Which relieved that Old Man of Three Bridges." The illustrations accompanying each poem add to the bright, innocent humor that Lear excelled at writing.

i read this book when i was five, it was one of my favorites, and i had it memorized with reading it by myself, and having my parents, and grandparents read it with me. this was a great experience, and i will share this wonderful story with my children.:)

Truly book that will be equally enjoyed by the parent as well as the child. The three stories are amusing, absurd and even touching in places. The book is wonderfully illustrated. But the best part comes in just saying the words aloud. Similiar to books like GoodNight Moon, for example, one become more appreciative of the beauty of the cadence of the verse, the more often one reads it. I find it a simple joy just to read the words aloud (and my 3 year old thinks the naked guy is pretty funny!).

Edward Lear IS the poet of the absurd. With his wiity observations and witticisms, he opened many a mind to the unexplored territory of the verbal nicety. Mr. lear was not merely a gifted poet, but also a great humorist. I give him credit for his creative ingenuity as well as his humor. He has made me laugh from the age of three!! :)

I welcome any review fo the man's work, but this one is absolutely definitive. Pick it up for the mastery of the form, for the humor of the verse, and ultimately, for the sheer delight of the words.

The man, simply put, was (and remains) a genius. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it. You owe this to yourself.

Grammy used to read me this book every visit. I have searched for years to bring this delight to my own three boys. Encourages early reading and poetry lasts a life time.

Some of my fondest memories are of reading this book to my daughter, Madeline, when she was four and five. The verses can be purchases in many different editions, but the illustrations are equally marvellous. It is a great loss that they are not currently available.

This is one of the most memorable books from my childhood. The illustrations are wonderful,and I spent many hours trying to find all the different animals, birds, fish and insects mentioned in the poem. It is a neat poem, too. I would recommend this book for second or third grade children or older. A young child might find the picture of the Scroobious Pip just a little bit scary.

I used to think that I knew the words of the Scroobius Pip in this poem, more or less, since each word could have been the same as in the verse before it, simply repeating a line at the end of each verse, as the words of the chorus of a song have a tendency to show up, one at a time, each in their proper places; but when the Scroobious Pip has something to say, like "Chippetty flip! Flippetty chip! My only name is the Scroobious Pip!" it might come out, "Flippetty chip! Chippetty flip!" or "with a liquid sound, Pliffity flip! Pliffity flip!" or "with a whistly sound, Wizzeby wip! Wizzeby wip!" or "Chippetty tip! Chippetty tip!" My dictionary had a lot of definitions for pip which weren't much help in understanding what this poem is all about. I thought a pip would be something small, but the dictionary thought it might even be British slang for a "metal insigne of rank on the shoulders of commissioned officers." There is an interpretation of the word, pip, as a verb, applying to a young bird chipping a hole in the shell of its egg. The pictures of the Scroobious Pip in this book don't look like it just crawled out of a shell, but the curiousity which is expressed might apply to something which has just been born as well as to something which is unusual because it defies classification. If wearing glasses and having a feathery beard, horns like a goat and a beak like a parrot or owl might be considered signs of wisdom, the hero of this book is being shown as a wise whatever it is, as well as being impeccably dressed in a coat and vest. The illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert in the edition that I have (Harper & Row, 1968) are excellent, and she also did the Foreword, which says, "It is this ideal of harmony between ourselves and nature which I feel is present in the rhythmic verses of The Scroobious Pip and which made me so want to illustrate them."

Bonjour, Mr. Satie is a wonderful book for children. As readers wait to hear the outcome of the story, they will find de Paola's book anything but dull. The book combines de Paola's usual talent for telling stories and illustrating them with flair with a glimpse into realistic events at Gertrude's salon. Children don't need to know Gertrude to enjoy the story, but when reading this story to them, you may want to tell them that Satie, Pablo (Picasso), Alice (Toklas), and Henri (Matisse) are real people who painted, composed, and wrote. Tell children that Alice made a cookbook, that Pablo painted a famous portrait of Gertrude, and that Gertrude wrote a poem about Pablo. Use this opportunity to expose children to paintings by Picasso and Matisse. Bonjour, Mr. Satie should be read because of its valuable lesson for children to appreciate difference and diversity in their lives and to encourage others to look at things (art and people) as different instead of good and bad.

I first read this book as a child, but picked it up again recently. My English class was researching Paris in the 1920s so I brought in the book. Not only is it an interesting story by the excellent tomie dePaola, but it is also educational. For a special kick, read the index in the back and you'll see that Ernest Hemingway, Isadora Duncan, James Joyce and other famous people are represented in the illustrations.

This is a very well presented hardback containing the best of Edward Lear. Perhaps not as complete as Holbrook Jackson's Complete Edward Lear, it nevertheless contains his best work, including A Book Of Nonsense, Limericks, alphabets and his most well-known poems, The Dong With The Luminous Nose, The Quangle Wangle Quee, and The Jumblies. The author's quaint illustrations are well reproduced throughout.

The reason this book is so important to comedy is that the incluence on people like Spike Milligan, Beyond The Fringe, and of course Monty Python's Flying Circus is clear. Lear was obviously the 19th century precursor to those humourists. Lear brings an educated and intelligent angle to his humour just as his successors did, and his talent as a poet and artist make this collection much more than just a collection of 'nonsense'!

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.

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.