PUBLIC DOMAIN MONDAY: A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES

by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith
published 1905

"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is a pleasure beyond compare."  ~Kenko Yoshida

SOME EXCERPTS to intice you to go find a book by Robert Lewis Stevenson...

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?

A THOUGHT

It is very nice to think

The world is full of meat and drink,

With little children saying grace

In every Christian kind of place.

AT THE SEA-SIDE

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.

WHOLE DUTY OF CHILDREN

A child should always say what's true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table;
At least as far as he is able.

RAIN

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.

FOREIGN LANDS

Up into the cherry tree

Who should climb but little me?

I held the trunk with both my hands

And looked abroad on foreign lands.

I saw the next door garden lie,

Adorned with flowers, before my eye,

And many pleasant places more

That I had never seen before.

I saw the dimpling river pass

And be the sky's blue looking-glass;

The dusty roads go up and down

With people tramping in to town.

If I could find a higher tree

Farther and farther I should see,

To where the grown-up river slips

Into the sea among the ships,

To where the roads on either hand

Lead onward into fairy land,

Where all the children dine at five,

And all the playthings come alive.

AUNTIE'S SKIRTS

Whenever Auntie moves around,
Her dresses make a curious sound,
They trail behind her up the floor,
And trundle after through the door.

THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.

TO ANY READER

As from the house your mother sees
You playing round the garden trees,
So you may see, if you will look
Through the windows of this book,
Another child, far, far away,
And in another garden, play.
But do not think you can at all,
By knocking on the window, call
That child to hear you. He intent
Is all on his play-business bent.
He does not hear; he will not look,
Nor yet be lured out of this book.
For, long ago, the truth to say,
He has grown up and gone away,
And it is but a child of air
That lingers in the garden there.

"PICTURE BOOKS IN WINTER"

This painting by Kay Crain reminds me of the
rare snow days we'd get during my childhood in Tennessee!

by Robert Louis Stevenson

Summer fading, winter comes--

Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,

Window robins, winter rooks,

And the picture story-books.

Water now is turned to stone

Nurse and I can walk upon;

Still we find the flowing brooks

In the picture story-books.

All the pretty things put by,

Wait upon the children's eye,

Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,

In the picture story-books.

We may see how all things are

Seas and cities, near and far,

And the flying fairies' looks,

In the picture story-books.

How am I to sing your praise,

Happy chimney-corner days,

Sitting safe in nursery nooks,

Reading picture story-books?

Today I'd like to highlight some exceptional picture story-books about snow and winter. Depending on your local weather and where you live,  January can be a month when you're either loving the snow, hating it, or longing for it!  From where I live on the West Coast, if it gets rainy with cold enough temperatures, snow appears on our local mountains. We can load up the kids and be playing in it within a couple of hours...or if the weather is mild, we can just curl up on the couch and enjoy a good picture book about snow!

Those of you who may be snowed in, or facing a looong winter, might - as Robert Louis Stevenson suggests in his cozy verses - try to find some picture story-books that will take you to another place, devoid of snow.  (But I hope you'll still peruse the books I've listed below.  I tried to choose some that might distract you from the coldness and gray slush of winter - that can sometimes feel like an eternity - and instead remind you of winter's haunting beauty and fun - that won't last an eternity!)



SNOW by Cynthia Rylant, illustrations by Laura Stringer. (Pre-S-Grade 3) Few picture books about snow have both the grace and joy of this lovely collaboration featuring Rylant’s and Stringer’s thoughtful words and dreamy artwork. This celebration looks at snow in all its slight variations and considers the effects it has on those it falls upon... There is “the snow that comes softly in the night . . . the snow that brings you peace”, the heavy snow that sends you home from school, and the delicate snow that drifts down, lacey on the trees. In the midst of all this, Rylant reminds readers “that nothing lasts forever except memories.”  Thank goodness for the memories preserved in this wonderful book!


SNOWBALLS by Lisa Ehlert (PreSchool-Grade 2) Ehlert puts a creative twist on one of the favorite traditions of winter - building a snowman, or, in this case, a snow family, including pets. Children who believe snowmen must have charcoal eyes and carrot noses will be inspired by the unique adornments, for each creation here is decorated with the narrator's cache of "good stuff in a sack." Mom's hair is a Guatemalan belt; boy's nose is a toy compass; baby's arms are plastic picnic forks; dog's spots are a collection of buttons.  The bold, rhyming text describes the simple pleasures of the season. The contrasting sensations of the crisp iciness and dreary isolation of winter are effectively created by placing the colorfully decorated white figures against a textured gray background on double-page vertical spreads. The background glows bright orange as the sun appears. Ehlert concludes her book with some winter facts, photographs of snowmen, and a recipe for popcorn balls. -from School Library Journal


IT'S WINTER by Linda Glaser  (Pre-S-Grade 1).  It's Winter is the third book in a series of four titles on the various seasons, and is full of insights about winter.  Its beautiful cut-paper art work, and suggestions for activities to enhance an appreciation of the season will delight your child. All this comes in the form of a first-person story of a girl who observes and appreciates the pleasures of winter.


WINTER: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur, illustrated by Leslie Evans. (PreS-Grade 2.) The beauty of a snowy winter contrasts with the warmth of a cozy, country home in this playful picture book. On each page, a winter-related word provides the basis for an acrostic that reads like a short poem. For the letter C, the verse reads, "Crystals / Of ice as delicate as / Lace ring the / Duck pond," forming the word cold in uppercase letters. A striking, hand-colored linoleum print illustrates each small, boxed acrostic. A girl and her black dog appear in many of the pictures... As the season progresses, the child sleds and skates, then snuggles up indoors by a fire. The final illustration launches the girl into spring with a soccer ball. Younger children will enjoy studying the details and spotting the dog; older ones may be inspired to try their hand at the pleasure of acrostics.  -from American Library Association.



WINTER POEMS by Barbara Rogasky, illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman.  (Reading level: Gr. 3-6, younger for reading aloud.) Beautifully designed and illustrated, this short anthology of poetry celebrates winter.  The selection ranges from ancient Japanese verse through Shakespeare to Wallace Stevens, Richard Wright, Ogden Nash, and David Kherdian. While much of the poetry was not originally written for children and some of it is excerpted from longer works, the clarity of concrete images and the sounds of the words make the verse accessible to young people, particularly when it is read aloud. Hyman's line-and-watercolor images evoke the quiet beauty of winter landscapes and interior scenes as well as the child's experience of winter.

POETRY: "SERIOUS PLAY"

"Play is what we want to do.  Work is what we have to do...poetry is both of those things.  Robert Frost, in fact, defined poetry as 'serious play'.  Poetry is the liveliest use of language, and nobody knows more instinctively how to take delight in that playfulness than children..." (Academy of American Poets - poets.org)


The ancient Greek word for poetry (poesis) is translated "to create".  Like me, maybe you haven't really considered the definition and origin of poetry since that last literature class you took in college.  I found a comprehensive, yet brief and interesting explanation of "WHAT IS POETRY" here.


Poetry, with its rhythm and rhyme, is perfect for reading aloud, and is very easy for children to memorize. It does not always have to rhyme, but it is always about expression and emotion.  Parents and teachers need to search for fun, thoughtful, and creative poems that will set children on the road to appreciating this literary art.  (If you're interested in poetry for babies and toddlers, you can read my earlier post about Mother Goose Rhymes).


There are classic poets, such as Edward Lear, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Taylor, A.A. Milne, and Christina Rossetti, whose long-cherished works will help paint wonderful pictures on the canvas of your child's imagination...  

WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND? by Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing thro'.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.

We can also introduce our kids to modern poets, including Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein, and Tony Mitton, to name a few.  Jim Trelease comments, from his READ ALOUD HANDBOOK:  

One of poetry's strengths is its brevity. A poem is not a novel or a short story, yet it can be very revealing in its smallness--like one of those see-through Easter eggs. A poem should add up to something, a slice of life. One expert put it this way: "Unless a poem says something to a child, tells him a story, titillates his ego, strikes up a happy recollection, bumps his funny bone--in other words, delights him--he will not be attracted to poetry regardless of the language it uses."

Click here to see and read the Lulu.Poetry list of Greatest Children's Poems Ever Written.

And go to Classic Children's Poems to download free poetry for parents and teachers.

ANTHOLOGIES for ages 4 and up:
THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF POETRY FOR CHILDREN, compiled by Jack Prelutsky.  Illustrations by Arnold Lobel.
TALKING LIKE THE RAIN, compiled by X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy.  Illustrations by Jane Dyer.

ELOISE WILKIN'S POEMS TO READ TO THE VERY YOUNG, compiled and illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.

THE POETRY OF ROBERT LEWIS STEVENSON

I'll never forget the up-and-down lilt of my mother's voice as she recited "The Swing", and how it matched the rhythm and sway of my body gliding through the air on the swing set at our small neighborhood playground.  With each push from her and pump of my legs, I'd go higher and higher, trying to get "up in the air and over the wall", just like the child in the poem by Robert Louis Stevenson.  My own children heard this rhyme from me, as I pushed them on our backyard swing set, or read to them from A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES -- the collection of poems that Stevenson originally wrote for his own children.

THE SWING

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

River and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown--

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

TIME TO RISE

A birdie with a yellow bill

Hopped upon my window sill,

Cocked his shining eye and said:

"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head!"

AT THE SEASIDE

When I was down beside the sea

A wooden spade they gave to me

To dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup.

In every hole the sea came up,

Till it could come no more.

My children are now grown and the swing sets are empty, but someday my grandchildren will fill the seats and I'll recite THE SWING again... 

Black and White Swing Painting by Vashinsky