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Title: A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, Barbara McClintock ISBN: 0-06-028228-2 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.99

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Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (15 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: A Portable, Usable 'Child's Garden of Verses'
Comment: Everyone knows Robert Louis Stevenson; everyone has at least one of the myriad books of his poetry. There are some stunningly illustrated collections of his poetry out now, notably two by Thomas Kincaide, among others. But how many of us have actually read all or most of his work? I'm guilty as charged.

This smaller, quieter version of Stevenson's poetry helped me finally, actually read all the Garden poetry. True, the illustrations are spare, but delightfully accurate. My children (7 and 10) were not as mesmerized by this book as they are by others with fanciful graphics, illustrations and larger type to accompany the poetry.

Still, this small book found its way into my purse to be used for waiting moments, e.g. at the orthodontist, doctor, and also to my bedside, where it's shear diminutive size did not dissuade me from reading "for only a minute or two." And within Stevenson's words and language lie the ferment of creative pictures. I liked to have my children close their eyes while I read short poems to 'force' them to use only their mind's eye.

I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures, moods, and images Stevenson conjures and at long last can understand why his poetry remains so classic.

Rating: 5
Summary: A beautiful melding of words and pictures
Comment: Most everyone knows that Robert Louis Stevenson was sickly, both as a child and as an adult, and the happy result for the reading public was his nearly feverish flights of imagination. Here, in an edition of his classic "A Child's Garden of Verses," that fever is complemented in spades by the fantastical illustrations of English artist Joanna Isles.

Isles uses an arsenal of utterly frivolous flowers, borders, insects, birds, kings and queens, fairies, and more to expand upon the imagination exhibited in Stevenson's poems. The children in these pictures are depicted as being in charge, being at one with their environment, and being delighted to be alive.

Some of the illustrations hint at the influence of artists more famed than Isles (Henri Rousseau appears to be a special favorite of hers--see the illustration for "The Unseen Playmate," in which a boy lies down in weeds that might have sprung from the edge of Rousseau's painting "The Dream"). Using both primary colors and pastels, Isles creates a world within the world of Stevenson's verse. The marriage of the two is a happy one.

Rating: 5
Summary: Great gift for young readers
Comment: I remember reading this collection of poems when I was a little kid. My dad bought it for me and we'd read the poems together before I went to bed. Stevenson seemed to have a good understanding of how to talk to a child("Bed in Summer" was a favorite!).

I've given copies of this book to a niece and a friend for her young daughter. It's certainly a book that should be part of any child's library.