Oh, What Nonsense!

by William Cole, Tomi Ungerer

An array of witty verse from a variety of authors, including John Ciardi, Theodore Roethke, and Laura E. Richards.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

William Rossa Cole (1919-2000) was best known as an editor and anthologist. He was editor or author (or co-editor or co-author) of about 75 books, 50 of them anthologies. Three of his books were honored by the ALA: I Went to the Animal Fair in 1958, Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls in 1964, and The Birds and Beast Were There in 1965. He was an editor for Simon & Schuster and Viking, and a columnist for the Saturday Review. He died in summer 2000, at the age of 80.

Reviews

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little goes a long way. I can live with the smattering of nonsense found in various poetry anthologies.

[raccoon reader]

Some are very funny. Some don't age well, like "The Buffalo" which "shows how very, very far from courtesy those people are." For "those people" they mean "Indians." Definitely not my favorite book. It was interesting to see some of the older poems but I'd steer clear of it personally.

[raccoon reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some are very funny. Some don't age well, like "The Buffalo" which "shows how very, very far from courtesy those people are." For "those people" they mean "Indians." Definitely not my favorite book. It was interesting to see some of the older poems but I'd steer clear of reading it in full to children personally, but from a historical perspective I can see the interest in reading it.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of wonderful nonsense poems, accompanied by wonderful nonsense illustrations by the wonderful Tomi Ungerer. What could be more wonderful?

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another collection of funny and absurb poems and rhymes complete with humourous illustrations that'll make you chuckle.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book when I was little..

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading poetry. This is a book of Nonsense poems. Some of them remind me of Dr. Suess rhymes. I liked the 2nd half of the book better than the first.