The Bad Child's Book of Beasts

This lively collection of comic animal verses speaks directly to children with mock severity and mischievous affection. Its opening advice urges young readers to protect the book, behave properly, pray for lost fairylands, and avoid copying the manners of apes, bears, hogs, and puppy dogs—though the rhymes themselves cheerfully encourage nonsense.

Each poem introduces a memorable creature through absurd facts, playful exaggeration, and wonderfully unexpected advice. A yak becomes an ideal nursery pet, a tiger is presented as a charming playfellow, the dodo is remembered with gentle sadness, and the towering camelopard inspires an entirely impractical hunting scheme. Elephants, whales, polar bears, baboons, rhinoceroses, and other beasts receive the same witty treatment.

The language has a jaunty rhythm that makes these poems especially enjoyable when read aloud, while the humorous illustrations invite listeners to imagine every outrageous scene. Beneath the mock lessons is a fond celebration of curiosity, imagination, and the wonderfully unruly world of children.