Christian Morgenstern: Lullabies, Lyrics and Gallows Songs ANNOTATION
From silly songs of battling silverware to the prayers of the little deer, from the proud dog in his new necktie to the lake in a sleeping giant's ear, these are poems of great imagination. Full-color illustrations.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Judy Silverman
Morgenstern was well known as a journalist and poet in Europe during the last part of the ninetieth century. Had he lived, he might have rivalled Edward Lear and even Lewis Carroll in the production of nonsense rhymes. These samples of his work are strange and wondrous, once you realize that they have no sense-but many of them can be read on several levels. The illustrations fit them perfectly.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3These nonsense poems and lyric verses by the late 19th-century German poet have been compared to works by Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll for their imagination and playfulness. The translator has tried to retain original rhyme schemes and meter, substituting English equivalents for invented names and puns when necessary. An example of concrete (wordless) poetry defined by design, and another consisting of pure sound (described by the poet as ``phonetic rhapsody'') have been left intact. Layout is attractive, with ample space allowed by the placing of only one poem per page, often with full-page, full-color illustrations opposite. A mixture of type facesfrom large, bold letters to small, softer oneslends diversity. Gentle, finely drawn watercolors capture the selections' dry, witty humor. These offbeat poems demand more than one reading. The book will be of most interest to libraries seeking to add to poetry collections from around the world.Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY
BookList - Carolyn Phelan
The jacket flap copy states that Morgenstern, a lyric poet, was born in Munich in 1871 and is best known today for his nonsense verse. This poetry collection offers some plums, but the verse is uneven in appeal and in levels of sophistication. The luminous, watercolor artwork is of consistent high quality, and Zwerger expresses her visions of the poems with humor and finesse. For larger collections and those with a historical bent.
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