A Diller, a Dollar: Rhymes and Sayings for the Ten O'Clock Scholar

by Lillian Morrison, Marj Bauernschmidt (Illustrator)

150 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1955

About the author

Lillian Morrison's interest in poetry resulting from playing rhyming games with her friends such as jump rope and patty cake. As an adult, she wanted to make poetry fun and accessible for children. In her quest to become a writer, she earned one of her bachelor's degrees at Rutgers University in New Jersey and then another at Columbia University in New York.

She worked for many years at the New York Public Library in young adult services and was recognized as the recipient of the American Library Association's Grolier Award in 1987 for her contributions to stimulating the interests of young people through reading. She was particularly interested in folk rhymes, outdoor sports, dance, jazz and film, saying, "I love rhythms, the body movement implicit in poetry, explicit in sports--I am drawn to athletes, dancers, drummers, jazz musicians, who transcend misery and frustration and symbolize for us something joyous, ordered, and possible in life."

She spent nearly fifty years working at the New York Public Library and, during this time, also served as a lecturer at the schools where she developed her education, Rutgers and Columbia Universities.

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kept taking this out of the library until it fell apart. Then I found a used copy to buy, but it was falling apart. Guess I'm not the only one who loves this book. Full of great rhymes, wisecracks and mnemonics.

[Stacey Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Black is the eye of the raven,
Black is the eye of the rook,
But blacker still will be the eye
Of he who steals this book."