Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets

"The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea

In a beautiful pea-green boat,

They took some honey, and plenty of money,

Wrapped up in a five-pound note."

-Edward Lear

Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets (1871), like much of Edward Lear's writing, is characterized by a joy of living. In this charming collection of nonsense verse children of all ages can delight in some of Lear's irreverent humor expressed in such classic poems as "The Owl and the Pussycat," "The Jumblies," "Calico Pie," and stories like "The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World" and the "History of the Seven Families of the Lake-Popple." In this edition, Lear's delightful text is illustrated with color drawings by the well-known British illustrator Leslie Brooke.