This is one of my favorite books from childhood. The poems in it are so witty and gross and totally entertaining for adults and kids alike.

This collection of scary poems includes poems about a dark, dark cave with a giant troll waiting to swallow any visitors, a bone-less creature that slides its agile body through keyholes and under doors to feast on the bones of children who stay up too long in the middle of the night, a carnivorous white fog that smothers anyone who comes near it, a horrifying breakfast scene where your parents have their bodily features removed and replaced, a particularily haunting tale that shows of a careless kid who walks in acid rain and has his body slowly dissolved into tiny bits, a shocking tale in which a swarm of mosquitoes suck the blood out of a spoiled girl who would scream at her parents, a poem about a many-legged creature under you stairs that will devour and torture anyone who wakes up in the night for a snack, and other poems that will definitely chill your child to the bone. (Need I say any more?)

If you are considering buying this great book, make sure that your child is mature enough to handle the severity of this book. Your kid could have reoccuring nightmares (or worse) if he/she comes across any of these poems...

This book won one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards. In 1983, it was given the Canada Council Children's Literature Prize... the first poetry book ever to be awarded it. is based on true-life events, which occurred in 1874.

A good book to give to a child in whom you want to instill with a love of poetry.

My youngest daughter and I checked this out of the library originally. We both loved it so much that we checked it out again and again. When I volunteered at the school, I tried to read it aloud to the class and couldn't get through it through the tears. I bought her, her own copy for Christmas last year even though she's 20 now and she says it's one of the best gifts she's ever gotten. Now I'm looking for a copy for me.