Love-Songs of Childhood by Eugene Field

If you’ve heard and loved that delightful nursery rhyme/lullaby, Wynken Blynken and Nod you’d certainly enjoy browsing through its creator Eugene Field’s Love Songs of Childhood. The volume contains some forty or more poems for children, which are ideal for read aloud sessions with young folks. Parents will certainly enjoy reading them too. Most of these poems have been set to music and are ideal for family sing-alongs too. Eugene Field was a gifted humorist as well as being a talented children’s writer. His father was a famous lawyer who fought the infamous Dred Scott case which is often dubbed “the case that started the American Civil War.” Field Sr. died when Eugene was still a young man still in college. Subsequently, Eugene dropped out of college due to financial constraints and he tried many professions before settling down to write. His column in The Chicago Daily News, called Sharps and Flats was very popular in its day and earned him the reputation of being a light-hearted satirist who poked good-natured fun at contemporary events and people. He also wrote humorous verse and short stories. He was one of the few writers who wrote poetry exclusively for children, and it earned him the title of The Children’s Poet. Love Songs of Childhood contains some appealing verses, combining fantasy, nonsense and innocent fun. The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot, for instance is patterned on those famous ballads in history where fair maidens are carried off by dastardly villains – but this one is a parody and has a mischievous twist at the end! Nonsense verses like Googly-Goo and The Bench-legged Fyce are reminiscent of Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll. Poems like Rock-a-bye-Lady have become an integral part of children’s literature. Many towns in America have parks and statues dedicated to Eugene Fields or the characters he created. A charming addition to your bookshelf!