William Cole (1) (1919–2000)

An all-time favorite; and it was necessary to buy a second copy because the first one was falling apart. The arrangements for piano are very beautiful; and I love Ardizzone's illustrations. There is hardly a song we haven't learned and added to our repertoire, even those sung in Welsh ... (we try ... ;-) ). First time I heard of Thomas Moore and love his poetry. Discovered John McCormack for listening to hitherto unknown tunes. Ahhh ....

During my childhood we had this book in our house, and I read it repeatedly. Recently it came to mind, so I found and ordered a copy from an online bookseller. I read it again, though from an adult perspective, and found it was even funnier than I recalled. Most of the cartoons are from the 1940's and 1950's, so a younger reader might not understand a few of the references...but most of the humor is timeless. I found myself laughing out loud, and highly recommend this collection from 1952.

As a fellow foodie, I can appreciate this book. Name a food and William Cole most likely selected a poem about it. All of the selected poems were short and they also rhymed. These poems are hilarious. Some of them are similes comparing food to animals, some are about gaining weight from food, some of the poems are simple explanations as to why they like that particular food and others are just explaining different types of food. While I was skimming through this book I noticed that the most show more entertaining poems were the ones that rhymed the most often. I think this is because it takes an author so much creativity and thinking to come up with the next line that often times authors create silly new words. Although this book is comical and entertaining, it does serve some educational purposes. Throughout this book we learn lessons about table manners, the importance of healthy meals, cooking lessons, family and readers get to learn about a variety of different types of food. This book has a similar style to some of Shel Silverstein's books. Although these poems are by all different authors, they all go together very coherently because of the illustrations. show less

Who could hate poetry about food? This collection, or stew, of silly poems is completed with short and hilarious poems. I liked the ones that rhymed better, and it reads similar to Silverstein's work. Along with silly enjoyment, it teaches life lessons on table manners. The illustrations go well with each poem and the sketchiness of each one works well.