Monday, February 8, 2010

Edward Lear's The Duck & the Kangaroo illustrated by Jane Wattenberg


Duck is tired of his life in the pond. He admires Kangaroo's ability to hop. Duck wants Kangaroo to give him a ride. After much discussion and the putting on of socks, the two hop around the world not once but thrice.

What I thought: I'd never read this poem by Lear. I am an admirer of nonsense poems. I only object to the line about the cigar. But my objection could be overruled by the fact it's a duck not a person. Wattenberg's illustrations, which I understand to be collages of bits and pieces of art that artists and scientists produced, are wonderful. Each page has so many textures. The colors are bright and vibrant.

(New York: Greenwillow, 2009)

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