From: Flyingpig2 at aol.com <Flyingpig2>
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 20:33:25 EST

You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" by John Ciardi was my favorite collection of poetry when I was a child. The poems in blue were simple enough to be read by a young reader, and the poems in black were for the accomplished reader. The Edward Gorey illustrations were fabulous, witty, sometimes dark, and the book has always seemed to me to be the necessary precursor of poet/artists like Shel Silverstein.

Miraculously, it is still in print, at least in paperback, and I love passing it on to new generations of kids. I still remember my mother reading the spooky Halloween poem ("What night is it?") and feeling happily creepy-crawly at the "and when things pick / at the back / at the back / at the back of your neck" part.

There's also a classic poem about a child choosing between his good head and his bad head. As a child, I found that illustration fascinating (like Ozma's many head choices later on). And a dated but amusing frill called "When Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Cooked Breakfast," where the burnt pancake resembles something made of twisted, blackened iron.

Edward Gorey and John Ciardi were a brilliant match-up.

Anyway, a moment of remeniscing....

Cheers, Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Bluemle Flying Pig Children's Books 86 Ferry Rd. Charlotte, VT 05445 802B5&00 www.flyingpigbooks.com
Received on Sat 15 Dec 2001 07:33:25 PM CST