I vaguely recall Edward Lear from primary school, with The Owl & The Pussycat and whatnot, being quite amusing. Alas, any good bits are omitted from this book which is about as dire as it could possibly be. The limericks chosen here are just mad, unfunny and a few of which don't even rhyme properly. The illustrations make some amends but not enough, even for the silliest of kids. 0.25 for the content, 1 for the illustrations (which must've taken ages to draw). I only paid 20p for it which was about 18p too much. 1.25/5

I really really enjoyed this book, it was fun, lighthearted and just really enjoyable. It was a very easy read, I didn't understand what half of the poems mean but that just made it more interesting for me. Some of them were a bit concerning and questionable but funny nonetheless. It's always nice to read this right after a busy tiring day.

Appropriately titled.

The nonsense botany takes the cake.

Fun, but not quite as clever as I rememberd!

A few funny limericks in this now dated book from the mid 19th century.
Edward Lear made the limerick his own and went on to write more books of "nonsense" after this one. I believe he wrote 212 limericks in total.

First off 112 of these in one book was way to many. Not really funny. Pictures were racist Caricature. The style of writing was old and would not be understood by kids today. And Shame he used the word, Ass. Just kidding that part was fine.

I was walking around in the library with no set destination when I came across this book, the title was (as is evident) most interesting; a writer who can write a book and call it nonsense must be special indeed.
Later...
"WTF did I just read?"
This is significant because even in internal monologue, I rarely ever resort to vulgarity, even in abbreviated forms.
A more suitable title to this book could never exist.
I should give this 5 stars, but it's improbable that the shock value was intended, so I'll settle for one.

NONSENSE!!

trying to make a SENSE out of this book is NONSENSE !!!
:) at first, I tried, but that definitely doesn't make a sense no matter how much I tried to!
I really enjoyed the nonsense in this book thought its really nonsense!

recommended strongly! O)

I marvel that so many venerate this book of (mostly) limericks for children. Lear deserves credit for inventing the form, but only 2 or 3 are satisfying. Most repeat most of the first line in the last, making the rhyme unsatisfying, most make no logical sense, most are pointless, and none are cute, clever, or even interesting. Lear's own line drawings are inept, and do not charm me. Lear has a cult following who, like Ruskin, venerate his work. I wonder why.

Strange and funny plus the illustrations are fascinating.

My kid loved having this read to her!