An Edward Lear Alphabet - Hardcover

Lear, Edward; Newsom, Carol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688009646 ISBN 13: 9780688009649

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 1983

Synopsis

Illustrations and nonsense verses introduce the letters of the alphabet.

About this title

Review:

An Edward Lear Alphabet was first published in 1871, illustrated with the King of Nonsense's own incongruously matter-of-fact pen-and-ink sketches. Evidently Lear composed this rhyming alphabet for some children he befriended in a hotel, leaving a poem a day on the family's breakfast table. "A was once an apple pie, / Pidy / Widy / Tidy / Pidy / Nice insidy / Apple pie," he begins jauntily. Kids will love repeating the verses out loud--"E was once a little eel, / Eely / Weely / Peely / Eely / Twirly tweely / Little eel"--particularly early readers just learning to sound out words. Vladimir Radunsky's modern, explosively colorful, rather Monty Python-like collages (reminiscent of Yucka Drucka Droni) complement Lear's simple verse remarkably well, considering the century-long leap in style and attitude. These bold illustrations, many of which conjure a bald, bearded, bespectacled Lear, make the whimsical poet's verse all the more accessible. Readers who adore Lear and his joyful frivolity should also investigate the 1846 classic A Book of Nonsense, a rollicking, ridiculous poetic romp that no child or adult should be without. (Ages 3 to 6) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

Edward Lear, author of An Edward Lear Alphabet, illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky, is the author of many collections of nonsense verse and is widely anthologized.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Publication date: 1983
• ISBN 10: 0688009646
• ISBN 13: 9780688009649
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Newsom Carol