Laughing Time: Collected Nonsense

by William Jay Smith, Fernando Krahn (Illustrations)

A revised edition of a beloved collection of wacky poems and lopsided limericks.

"This expanded reissue...containing one third new material, is sure to tickle the funnybones of a new generation." -- Kirkus Reviews

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

William Jay Smith was an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970.

Reviews

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted anthology of nonsense verse - There's a section on animals that reminded me of Roger McGough's An Imaginary Menagerie and there's a pun filled section on birds, a nonsense alphabet, limericks, Clerihews and other experimental verse forms. Majority are fun but there's far better nonsense verse out there - it's not until the final section - the floor and the ceiling - that this anthology really comes into its own. All my favourite poems come from this section - Gumbo Cole which I first heard in a 1980's Storyteller cassette was a firm childhood favourite of mine, banjo tune and the typewriter bird - both using the rhythms of their subject (performance poetry at its finest) and the slightly poignant and yet funny: the floor and the ceiling, the antimacassar and the ottoman, the flight of the long haired yak and may-as-well.

This is a wonderful anthology to introduce poetry to kids. For anyone who loves words this is delirious fun.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

silly poems that make you smile as they tickle when read aloud

[Monika · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of collected poems about animals, letters and silly non-sense stories. Some of the poems are short and some are long. They are not literary masterpieces by any means but they are fun to read.