CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL...

by Michael Flanders ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 1965

**It begs to be shared. The poems demand to be read aloud, dramatized, declaimed. Even the most monotoned parent will be carried along by the sure verse. We offer here, as an example, the poem about the sparrow--one of the smaller creatures and shorter verses: ""O Lord, who marks the sparrow's fall/ For our Tomcat to kill,/ You do not raise him up again/ Because he has free-will./ But though his sparrow bones must lie/ With fish and errant mice/ In Tom's infurnal regions--/ Yet, his soul's in Sparadise."" Like the poetry of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, these nineteen by the Flanders of Flanders and Swann (At the Drop of a Hat) fame have the visual nonsense that entrances children, the nuances to be discovered with rereading, and the sophisticated wit to hold adults. And, the illustrations are every bit as good. Each shares a double-page spread with its poem. Lots of white space emphasizes the brilliant colors of the stylized, primitive, superbly rendered animals, each of whom appears to have an eye and an ear cocked to his poem. Creatures Great and Small is for everyone young or old.

Pub Date: Sept. 7, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965

Categories: CHILDREN'S