Ten Significant books - Day 3

This is the first poetry book I remember. I think it may have been a school book which my aunt (a primary school teacher) got for us, ever keen that we developed a love of reading. There were four books in the series and we had two of them - the red one and the blue one.

 

From these books I developed a love of poetry from an early age. From the poems in them such as Eleanor Farjeon's 'Cats', Alfred Noyes' 'Daddy fell into the pond', Rose Fyleman's 'Mice', Thomas Hood's 'Choosing their Names', Spike Milligan's 'On the Ning Nang Nong', Queenie Scott-Hopper's 'The Visit', I learned about rhyme and rhythm and that poems could be entertaining, funny and exciting.

 

The introduction to the blue book concludes "John Dryden once wrote that the chief end of poetry is delight. It is our sincere hope that RHYME AND RHYTHM will indeed be a source of delight, and that it will lead its readers to a lasting love of poetry". Mission accomplished.