Beware, Take Care

by Lilian Moore, Howard Fine (Illustrator)

A fun fright-fest for any time of the year There's always something lurking in the spooky-but-fun urban world of these poems. Maybe it's a lost dragon (a wizard's loving pet--please return if found!) or a twelve-toed creature, or perhaps it's a monster celebrating his birthday. Whatever is there, it's sure to delight readers at any time of the year.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 22, 2006

About the author

Lilian Moore grew up in New York, received a degree in teaching from Hunter College, and did graduate work at Columbia University. She attended college during the Depression, so job opportunities were few. She worked for the Bureau of Educational Research, helping children who could not read in their Reading Clinic. Ms. Moore was also a reading specialist for the New York Board of Education. She trained teachers and did extensive research into reading difficulties.

She was the editor of Scholastic's first paperback book club, the Arrow Book Club, beginning in 1957. As she said, "Imagine making it possible for these youngsters to choose and buy good books for the price of comics!" She was an editor at Wonder Books, Thomas Y. Crowell, and contributor to Humpty Dumpty magazine.

In addition, Ms. Moore was a founding member of the Council on Interracial Books for Children. Ms. Moore died on July 20, 2004, at the age of 95.

She is best known for her poetry and easy-to-read books.

Reviews

[Natalie Pietro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book hidden deep in the botton of a huge Salvation Army bin. After hours of digging, down on the botton laying virtually untouched was Beware, Take Care by Lilian Moore. Having heard of her once or twice I decided it was time to finally discover what her poems were all about.
They sure were fun and spooky poems. Spooky in a childish way. Poems about ghosts, monsters, dragons. My son got the biggest kick out of these poems. Something about poetry makes him smile every time. I think it must be the rhyming words he likes.
The poems were short, sweet, and reminded me so much of Shel Silverstein. Such a fun book I know my son will love years to come.
I'm sorry Lilian Moore couldn't see this edition of her poems. Your poems will live on for years to come.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another 'greatest hits' collection of the wonderful verses of Moore, selected & illustrated for 21st century readers. Probably much more appealing to children than to me, given that I am not a fan of anything spooky.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moore, Lilian Beware, Take Care PICTURE BOOK Henry Holt –

A rambunctious ghost, a smiling monster, a misunderstood dragon are part of the poems and adorable illustrations in this short picture book. My favorite poem is The Teeny, Tiny Ghost. If you have a large Halloween collection, this would be a good addition.

EL – OPTIONAL

[Kelly Haacke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose the book "Beware, Take Care" By Lilian Moore. This book of poetry for children is made up of poems of any type of creature lurking around at any time of the year, whether it's a monster, or a dragon, or something else that is spooky. I gave this book a rating of 3 out of 5 because I thought some of the language was a little difficult for the age group, however, I did like the fact that in almost each poem there was a lot of repetition and rhyming which again helps children understand and remember the poem/story better. I thought the theme was okay because children sometimes might feel that there are spooky creatures lurking around that might scare them a little bit. For example, a lot of children are afraid of the dark and their closets because they think there's a monster in there. Lastly, I thought the illustrations and color use was very effective and detailed. The pictures on each page related to the poem.I kind of think this book would be appealing for young readers because if there are children who like monsters they would be interested. On the other hand, for a child who is afraid of monsters and doesn't like that kind of stuff then they probably wouldn't be interested in reading this book. I personally would not use this book while working with children because some might not like scary things.