A Child's Garden Of Verses

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Overview

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408633823
Publisher:	Hewlett Press
Publication date:	11/16/2007
Pages:	68
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.42(d)

About the Author

Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson was a prolific Scottish poet and novelist in the 19th century. He was admired by many other authors, and his work includes The Black Arrow, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He died in 1894.

Date of Birth:

November 13, 1850

Date of Death:

December 3, 1894

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Vailima, Samoa

Education:

Edinburgh University, 1875

Read an Excerpt

Bed in Summer

In winter I get up at night

And dress by yellow candle-light.

In summer quite the other way,

I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see

The birds still hopping on the tree,

Or hear the grown-up people's feet

Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,

When all the sky is clear and blue,

And I should like so much to play,

To have to go to bed by day?

Table of Contents

	Bed in Summer	9
	A Thought	10
	At the Seaside	11
	Young Night Thought	12
	Whole Duty of Children	13
	Rain	14
	Pirate Story	16
	Foreign Lands	18
	Windy Nights	20
	Travels	21
	Singing	23
	Looking Forward	24
	A Good Play	25
	Where Go the Boats	26
	Auntie's Skirts	27
	The Land of Counterpane	29
	The Land of Nod	30
	My Shadow	32
	System	35
	A Good Boy	36
	Escape at Bedtime	38
	Marching Song	40
	The Cow	42
	Happy Thought	44
	The Wind	46
	Keepsake Mill	48
	Good and Bad Children	49
	Foreign Children	50
	The Sun's Travels	52
	The Lamplighter	53
	My Bed is a Boat	54
	The Moon	57
	The Swing	58
	Time to Rise	59
	Looking-Glass River	60
	Fairy Bread	62
	From a Railway Carriage	64
	Wintertime	65
	The Hayloft	66
	Farewell to the Farm	68
	North-West Passage
1	Good Night	69
2	Shadow March	70
3	In Port	71
	The Child Alone
	The Unseen Playmate	74
	My Ship and I	75
	My Kingdom	76
	Picture Books in Winter	78
	My Treasures	80
	Block City	81
	The Land of Storybooks	82
	Armies in the Fire	84
	The Little Land	86
	Garden Days
	Night and Day	90
	Nest Eggs	92
	The Flowers	94
	Summer Sun	96
	The Dumb Soldier	98
	Autumn Fires	100
	The Gardener	102
	Historical Associations	104
	Envoys
	To Willie and Henrietta	106
	To my Mother	107
	To Auntie	108
	To Minnie	110
	To my Name-Child	113
	To any Reader	116
	Acknowledgements	118
	Robert Louis Stevenson	120
	A Short Biography

Editorial Reviews

Rendered in brilliant candy-shop colors, Joanna Isles's folk-art designs, whimsical characters and striking typestyles put a beguiling face on a beloved work: Abrams's edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses glows with charm and vitality.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A plethora of poetry books arrive just in time for National Poetry Month. Now available in a board book edition, A Child's Garden of Verses, compiled by Cooper Edens, pairs eight of Robert Louis Stevenson's poems with turn-of-the-century illustrations to captivate a child's imagination. For instance, "Happy Thought" ("The world is so full of a number of things,/ I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings") is embedded like a placard within a pen-and-ink by E. Mars (1900), while opposite, a 1940 illustration by Ruth Mary Hallock depicts a happy assembly of children and kittens, gathering for a snack break after a game of croquet. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

These classic poems and the equally classic illustrations have been repackaged in a board book format. The poems are fairly complex even for an older reader and the idea that they will be appreciated and understood by children under the age of four seems to be a bit of a stretch. Perhaps the soothing sounds are sufficient and perhaps it is never too soon to introduce complex language, but I do think children of this age will get a lot more enjoyment out of simple nursery rhymes. This board book, in my opinion is really not one I would select for young children. It may be quite useful in programs where children who are older cannot handle regular books and it may even appeal to grandparents and great-grandparents who enjoy looking at the pictures created nearly 100 years ago. 2004 (orig. 1989), Chronicle Books, Ages 6 mo. to 4.
—Marilyn Courtot

Children's Literature

A whole new generation of children and their parents will delight in discovering this reissue of Stevenson's poetry. Where else can one find such an excellent description of a child enjoying a ride on a swing, having fun with his/her shadow, erecting a wondrous city made of blocks, or sharing time with an imaginary playmate. The whole world opens up in such poems as "Foreign Lands," "Picture Books in Winter," and "My Bed is a Boat." A child's imagination is perfectly portrayed in "The Little Land" as the little boy closes his eyes and goes sailing off to the forest and fairyland and eventually returns home. The illustrations in both black-and-white sketches and full color perfectly capture the mood and action of each poem. Every picture is filled with details to enhance the words that illuminate the timelessness of childhood. A copy of this title should be in every collection, both in libraries and homes. Reviewer: Sylvia Firth

Children's Literature - Sylvia Firth