A Book of Nonsense and Other Poems by Edward Lear

"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. When "The Book of Nonsense" was first published in 1845 it was a success--some say it turned the once stodgy, didactic world of children's literature on its head. Consisting of a slew of more-odd-than-bawdy limericks, "A Book of Nonsense" takes readers through a rollicking poetic romp. 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. Also included in this volume two of Lear's other classic limerick works: "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Duck and the Kangaroo."