Cautionary Tales for Children

This is delightful in every way and laugh-out-loud fun.

The introduction in poem form says it all. Is this book true? And is it True? It is not True. And if it were it wouldn't do, For people such as me and you Who pretty nearly all day long Are doing something rather wrong. Because if things were really so, You would have perished long ago.These poems are "not the nicest things you ever saw." And mostly parents will think they're not right for children to read. But the children may enjoy them and laugh along, for they know that life isn't all peaches and cream.I mean, a disobedient boy named Jim being eaten by a lion at the zoo, beginning at the boy's feet and working upward! Let that be a lesson to you, young reader, not to be disobedient. Stick with your parents when they tell you to do so.How about Henry King who chewed and swallowed string? Why, he became all tied up in knots inside and the physicians couldn't do anything about it. So the poor boy died.Then there's Matilda who cried FIRE and brought the firetrucks to her house. And the time she again cried FIRE when there was a fire--well, guess the rest.So if you and your kids can stand to face reality, this book has it in singing cadence, clever rhymes and spades (what you use to dig graves with.)

Edward Gorey's first major posthumous publication is like a newly forged work, with freshness and originality. Published several times since 1907, Harcourt's reprint of "Cautionary Tales for Children" contains sixty-one new illustrations enfolding the 95-year old verse, and the result is very satisfying.Gorey created these illustrations several years ago, but for some reason, chose not publish them while he was alive. Gorey's Victorian style is a delightful fit for Belloc's verse. In fact, those already familiar with Belloc's Cautionary Tales or Cautionary Verses series may very well conclude that they were strong influences for Gorey's "The Beastly Baby", "The Gashlycrumb Tines", "The Epipleptic Bicycle" and others. Certainly, many of the verses in Cautionary Tales feel like they could have been written by Gorey: "Jim, Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion", "Henry King, Who chewed on bits of String, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies", "Matilda, Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death", and so on. Unlike the original cartoonish illustrations by Blackwood, Gorey's illustrations simply set the stage - the big moment is then played out in the imagination. It is Edward Gorey's delightful magic, at work.Glen Emil...

Hillaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales For Children, originally published in 1907, is a collection of tongue in cheek poems that would likely send today's political correctness enforcers into full out frenzy. As one example, the first poem is about a young boy visiting the zoo with his nanny. The kid disobeys his nanny and, as a direct consequence of his disobedience, gets eaten by one of the zoo's lions.The book is a classic.The only problem with this free download is that it only includes the text; it leaves out the original Blackwood illustrations and the later Edward Gorey illustrations, both of which which definitely added an extra something special to Belloc's great writing. Belloc's poems are great but the original Blackwood and the later Edward Gorey illustrations complement the poetry very well.If you're not familiar with this classic book, download this free Kindle version to check it out. If you (and the kids in your life) like Belloc's verse, then buy a print or e-book version with the original Blackwood or Edward Gorey illustrations.

My rating is missing a few stars, for this book is missing a few chapters. It's abridged, though you won't find that in the description or anywhere on the actual volume itself.included in this delightfully illustrated volume are the following short stories, all told in verse:Jim, Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion.Henry King, Who chewed bits of String, and was early cut off in Dreadful Agonies.Matilda, Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death.Franklin Hyde, Who caroused in the Dirt and was corrected by His Uncle.Godolphin Horne, Who was cursed with the Sin of Pride, and Became a Boot-Black.Algernon, Who played with a Loaded Gun, and, on missing his Sister was reprimanded by his Father.Hildebrand, Who was frightened by a Passing Motor, and was brought to Reason.However, the proper, full text by Hilaire Belloc, also ought include the following additional four stories (or five, depending on how you count poor Lundy.):Lord Lundy, Who was too Freely Moved to Tears, and thereby ruined his Political Career.Lord Lundy (SECOND CANTO)Rebecca, Who slammed Doors for Fun and Perished Miserably.George, Who played with a Dangerous Toy, and suffered a Catastrophe of considerable Dimensions.Charles Augustus Fortescue, Who always Did what was Right, and so accumulated an Immense Fortune.The last of which stories, about Charles, seems not to fit with Gorey's somewhat gory themed books, for it contains the lone story of redemption, a lone example of exemplary virtue in a child. It's nice to end on a high note.My favorite story, that of Rebecca (who perished miserably) you will have to get from a different volume. (You can find the full thing on Project Gutenberg's website, for the story with original illustrations is out of copyright.)

It was free, and cheap at half the price. No illustrations. Cautionary tales or just plain old ordinary threats? The message―bad things will happen if you disobey. That almost sounds like a dare.

Getting a reprint of the original was appealing to me, as was getting it in hard back. Unfortunately the paper is of such poor quality that I shall be returning it. You can see through to the next page meaning that the illustrations can't be appreciated and the text is difficult to read. Other reviewers mention poor formatting and missing images, these issues seem to have been addressed, but the poor quality of the printing and materials make the £12 price tag difficult to justify.

It was such a pleasure to read this book again. It was a staple of my childhood, and many of the hilarious (and wildly politically incorrect) verses are stuck forever in my memory, as are the quirky illustrations. Hilaire Belloc is ridiculously xenophobic, but - provided you can excuse him on the grounds that he wrote it in a very different age - wonderfully funny.This is a book for a child aged around 8-10 (and for retarded adults like me) with a good sense of humour and history,and a strong feeling for words. I gave it to the son of a friend, and was delighted to see how much he enjoyed it.

Lovely verses that I remember from childhood and which still make me smile. The problem with the Kindle version is that the drawings cause the print to be squashed ... so perhaps only three words per line, which makes it very difficult to read. I will return to my dog eared print version. The formatting just doesn't work on Kindle - either in landscape or portrait view.

My mother read this book to me when I was very young. She chose the tale about Jim but only knew the first 4 lines so I thought that was all there was. Many years later, this became the inspiration for me to write my own books in the same rhyming couplets style. Along with my friend who is a wonderful illustrator, we just launched the first two books in a series called Two Unlikely Friends which features animals who couldn't possibly know one another to overcome a challenge or adversity. Please take a look and I hope you enjoy them even a fraction of how much we enjoyed their creation. Ocho and Bao Bao's Masterpiece: Volume 1 (Two Unlikely Friends) Presley and Allie's African Barbeque: Two Unlikely Friends: Volume 2Ocho and Bao Bao's Masterpiece: Volume 1 (Two Unlikely Friends)Presley and Allie's African Barbeque: Two Unlikely Friends: Volume 2

This is a low quality printout of some public material. Illustrations are missing. Instead of illustrations the word "image" is printed.