A Child's Garden of Verses

By Robert Louis Stevenson

1957

 


A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my first joke book.  This week, I’m taking a look at my first ever book of poems.  A Child’s Garden of Verses also happens to be one of my mother’s all-time favorite books.  You can read about her list of favorites here.  This particular volume, and the one I remember from my childhood, includes verses selected and beautifully illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.

These illustrations are ingrained on my mind from childhood.  I can recall reading the poems and finding the meaning of the words in the illustrations.  While the language of poetry can be confusing for a young child to grasp, these detailed drawings helped me to see what the poems were saying. 

At the Sea-side

When I was down beside the sea

A wooden spade they gave to me

To dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup;

In every hole the sea came up

Till it could come no more.

When I first heard this verse, I hadn’t any experience in digging holes in the sand at the beach.  The illustration taught me the meaning of these words; that the lake or ocean water seeps up from the sand when a deep enough hole is dug.  When I finally was able to go the beach myself, I could connect my experience with the words and the picture. 

With so many of my favorite picture books, even forty years later, I can remember minute details in the illustrations.  

Thinking about this makes me wonder what children without the sense of vision remember about books read to them?  Is it the voice of the loved one who read to them?  Is it the touch of the person whose lap they were in?  Perhaps they have a better recall of the words.  I will have to ask my well-read (and blind) sister-in-law Kathy, who loves books at least as much as I, what she remembers about her favorite childhood books.