I had a book when I was younger (pre-2000, book may be older, possibly published in the early 80s) that had a hard cover and housed a collection of children’s poems. All were by different authors and all were illustrated.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Hi there, let me expand on what I remember of this book since the PayPal box was limited to 300 characters!
Two specific poems I remember from this book were “The Chickens” and “Foal”. I also remember there being a poem about a fire man (not a firefighter but a man made out of fire), and one about a grasshopper. As I said, all poems were illustrated (The Chickens illustrations may have been by Eric Carle?) and by different authors. I was born in 1989, this book may have been older than me and when I think of it it feels very 80s to me in style. I can’t remember the cover, just bits and pieces from the contents. The two poems I remember are below. Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!
Foal:
Come trotting up
Beside your mother,
Little skinny.
Lay your neck across
Her back, and whinny,
Little foal.
You think you’re a horse
Because you can trot —
But you’re not.
Your eyes are so wild,
And each leg is as tall
As a pole;
And you’re only a skittish
Child, after all,
Little foal.
The Chickens:
Said the first little chicken,
With a strange little squirm,
“I wish I could find
A fat little worm.”
Said the next little chicken,
With an odd little shrug:
“I wish I could find
A fat little bug.”
Said a third little chicken,
With a small sigh of grief,
“I wish I could find
A green little leaf!”
Said the fourth little chicken,
With a faint little moan,
“I wish I could find
A wee gravel stone.”
“Now, see here!” said the mother,
From the green garden patch,
“If you want any breakfast,
Just come here and scratch!”
I googled a couple of phrases from the poems and came up with “Fur, Fangs, and Footprints: A Collection of Poems About Animals,” compiled by Patricia M. Stockland and illustrated by Sara Rojo Perez.
Upon closer scrutiny, I don’t think “Fur, Fangs and Footprints” is the right book. I did find out the author of “Foal” is Mary Britton Miller, and with that information I found “Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young,” published in 1986. From the web: “The poems cover a wide range of experiences in a young child’s life, from everyday events to special days to the world of the imagination…. More than 200 poems and rhymes have been assembled in this large, satisfying volume. An obvious love for all things childlike is present in selections by Myra Cohn Livingston, Ogden Nash, A. A. Milne, Else Holmelund Minarik, Karen Gundersheimer, George MacDonald, Robert Louis Stevenson and many, many others. (The) pictures spill over with robust children, woeful or willful animals, and not-very-scary monsters wearing sometimes sheepish, other times exuberant expressions.” The book has a newly issued cover, but the original depicts kids happily climbing apple trees.
It reminds me a lot of a book I had, Sing a Song of Popcorn. I remember the goal poem. It was divided into sections and each section was illustrated by a different artist.