The Big Book of Nonsense

This collection written and illustrated by Colin West is jam-packed with tongue twisters, nonsense verses, pictures and poems which will make the reader laugh and may even inspire her or him to have a go at writing for themselves. Meet an assortment of characters from history, mad members of the family, hedgehogs, dodos, pirates and the deceptive Ogglewop who 'is tall and wide, / And though he looks quite passive, / He's crammed with boys and girls inside / That's why he is so massive!' West is one of those rare contemporary poets who write in the tradition of Lear, Belloc, Harry Graham and Ogden Nash and also manage to be both original and funny rather than a pale imitation of the past. Here is a typical example - a limerick about Einstein: 'Long years ago, nobody cared / That E was really mc2. / Then Albert Einstein thought a bit, / And felt that he should mention it.'