Whiskers and Rhymes

Feline characters grace the pages of Arnold Lobel's picture book of some 35 nonsense rhymes which are very much in the nursery rhyme tradition. There are verses featuring the likes of tongue twisting 'Friendly Frederick Fuddlestone Could fiddle on his funny bone.' and 'Polly in the parlour' to get the tongue round, but my favourite is the old woman of long ago: 'She sewed the wind against the clouds To stop the trees from bending. She stitched the sun to the highest hill To hold the day from ending.' Rooted in fairytale and nursery rhyme lore, Lobel's illustrations speak as loudly as the words and draw the reader or listener into the mood and metre of the rhymes.