A GOLDEN TREASURY OF ANIMAL VERSE

Compiled by Mark Daniel

Grange 1993

Children are fascinated by creatures of every kind and in his new anthology Mark Daniel covers them all, choosing a range of styles from the pastoral charm of Jane and Ann Taylor to Edward Lear’s resounding chorus of triumphant pelicans. Dogs and cats are here in abundance, along with the humble snail, the goldfish and the caterpillar, as well as the ferocious tiger, the mighty elephant and the stubborn camel.

Why should the yak be your friend? What do the birds say in their songs? Whose great, wondering eyes stare in through the window at dusk? Hillaire Belloc, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Hardy provide the answers to these questions, but many other poets contribute to the collection which celebrates creatures of all shapes and sizes. There are familiar poems, anonymous verses, lyrics, limericks and tall tales.

The extraordinary richness of the subject is reflected in the wide selection of beautiful paintings which accompany the verses, demonstrating how painters, no less than poets, have loved all creatures great and small.

This is a book for all ages to treasure, a book to read aloud or alone, to memorize and to love. It is also a splendid visual feast for child and adult alike.

The book has the most splendid illustrations and vignettes, some in cold colour orange/amber, others in full colour. All however, are charming and evocative, especially the decorative endpapers. The paintings are by various artists from the mid-nineteenth, to the early twentieth century. A superb book, containing some verses which I had long since forgotten about. A very nice item.

 Both the book and the dust jacket are in excellent condition