The compilers of this book have done their upmost to include every scrap of Lear’s written work (and some of his cartoons). As such, while most of this book is wonderful and whimsical as you’d expect from Lear, there’s some rubbish in here too. It is nice to have it all, though.There are extensive notes in the appendices, which should satisfy Lear scholars. I can’t help but think the man himself would be horrified to see his work dissected and pored over microscopically like this, though.

Well, he's not PC, but some of the poems are quite funny.

I like nonsense because sometimes it makes sense. I think the best thing about this book is they kept Mr. Lear's illustrations. My favorite poem is still Owl and the Pussycat, but found some others I liked too. I hope you like limericks because this book has a ton of limericks...maybe too many. I think fans of Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carroll would love this book too.

The inventor of the limerick. In fact, his limericks are disappointing, not because they're rated G (they are), but because the last line is always a repeat of the first line. The one about the girl from Nantucket gives you a punch line instead of repeat. A little more vim that way. Best known for The Owl and The PussyCat, Lear is at his best when he is that rarest of things, funny and sad at the same time. The Jumblies, The Dong with the Luminous Nose, The Pelican Chorus, are all heartbreaking

Good to dip into.

I had fond memories of memorising poems by Edward Lear at school but obviously they picked out the best ones for us. En masse I found his work tiresome, there are pages and pages of limericks that are virtually the same and his alphabets are not much better. It was interesting to learn a little more about his life. I didn't know he was the 20th child! He was also a talented artist and was drawing master to Queen Victoria. There are a couple of coloured plates included in the book of his nature d...

Magnificent and very silly. The early poems are weak. This is because Lear hadn't yet found his true path in life. Gradually the poems become dafter and dafter and better and better. The limericks aren't so great individually but there are so many of them that they build up into a strange unstoppable gestalt force of utterly pointless fun. His best work tends to be his longer nonsense songs, 'The Owl and the Puss-Cat', obviously, and 'The Jumblies', 'Mr and Mrs Discobobolos', etc. But I was also...

I grew up with this book of Victorian nonsense, thanks to my grandmother. Its alphabets are still hard to beat, as are the words and wordplay in very many of its poems. Several of the few poems I know by heart are from Lear.

If your children have a taste for macabre, buy it for them and read it together and draw it. See if you can out-wild and out-silly the author.

Delightful and comprehensive, best read in small doses so as not to ruin with excess the fun, this anthology of Lear illustrated poems, limericks, letters, alphabets, strange botanies, and other entertainments by the naturalist, landscape artist, and inspired traveler is a treat for the ages. Many of us got our first introduction to poetry through Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat and can likely recite the beginning verse, if not more. There are also The Jumblies (“They went to sea in a Sieve, the...

Brilliantly nonsensical poetry - loved Lear's work as a child with the Owl and the Pussy cat - loved going back to look more closely at the meaning behind the nonsense

A fun read from everyones childhood although not recommended to be read in large bites.

Lear’s compendium of small jokes and assorted nonsense is delightfully funny, and anticipated the comedy of countless generations that depend on the ridiculous. He sums up this philosophy in a quote to be found in the wonderfully written introduction to this volume: ‘Nonsense is the breath of my nostrils’, he wrote. It is a philosophy as much as a genre. For him it was a response to ‘this ludicrously whirligig life which one suffers from first & laughs at afterwards’. Lear himself was not blesse...

How pleasant to know Mr. Lear!Who has written such volumes of stuff!Some think him ill-tempered and queer,But a few think him pleasant enough."-"The Self-portrait of the Laureate of Nonsense"Yes, how pleasant to know Mr. Lear, indeed! This collection contains the poems that made Edward Lear famous, which are complete and utter nonsense, as he himself praises. Truly, this stuff makes absolutely zero sense. It is Victorian gobbledygook at its finest, although I fail to think of anybody else that d...

The 2004 theatrical release of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy set the literary world on its ear and in search of landmark absurdum. Less ponderous than Lewis Carroll and easier to read than James Joyce, the Victorian illustrator, writer, and yes, absurdist, Edward Lear (1812-1888) fit the bill for many. Fortunately Lear's "The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense" collects nearly all of Lear's output, including his published works, letters and many drawings.Lear will strike the reader as hil...

Oh this book! This book holds great sentimental value to me because my family has been reading it for four generations. I read it to Logan, my dad read it to my siblings and I, my grandfather read it to my dad, and my great-grandfather dad read it to my grandfather. The pure silliness is just fabulous! It is especially great considering that children's literature was not a big genera like it is today. I would have loved to meet Leer because he is so crazy and imaginative. I can only imagine what...

Lear is a master of the limerick and humorous poetry. My dad bought an older edition for us when we were kids and I was brought up on these nonsense rhymes and strange but endearingly funny illustrations. "The Owl and the Pussycat" will always have a special place in my heart because my grandma would recite it to me with a grin shortly after singing Eidelweiss or some other song. It's really no surprise that Lear was an inspiration to so many.

'the owl and the pussycat' will always be a favorite. you can probably skip the limericks; although they were made popular by lear, his re-use of the first line as the last line keeps the nonsense from becoming clever.

Had this book as a child aged about 8. Loved it. Would read it again and again. I can still remember some of the lines from certain poems like the Jumblies. My edition had beautiful illustrations too.

Lear's best poems are good; the problem is that there are so few of them among all the work he produced.

so far it is lovely. i especially enjoy his nonsense botany doodles and other artwork included!

never againg like tree funny ones in the whole book

Lear - the master of nonsense. And I do love a bit of nonsense!

I bow to my 19th century mentor. 4 of his characters kindly visited the pages of my story, RAKARA.

a book to return to again and again....always a smile

Among Mr. Lear's characters, I really do most sincerely appreciate Violet, Lionel, Guy, and Slingsby.

So much fun for anyone of any age.

Overall pretty good. I have to say though that the standards for what makes a good limerick have come a long way since Lear's time.

Victorian humor at its best.

If you like limericks this is the book for you. I thought it was a lot of fun. And a good reference to get the beat down for your own efforts at limericks.