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The Owl and the Pussycat

edward lear jan brett

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Edward Lear's nonsense poem about two unlikely sweethearts--an elegant owl and a beautiful cat--has found a perfect match in artist Jan Brett. She traveled to the Caribbean (the land where the Bong-tree grows, perhaps?) to research her illustrations as well as the settings, costume details, plants, and fish native to the area. Readers can follow an illustrated subplot of two yellow fish who also fall in love under the pea-green boat. A charming treatment of a classic children's poem. (Ages 3 to 7)

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1871
Literary awards
governor generals literary awards / prix littéraires du gouverneur général, 

This edition

Format
32 pages, Paperback
Published
May 7, 1996 by Puffin Books
ISBN
9780698113671
ASIN
0698113675
Language
English
Characters More characters

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About the author

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edward lear

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Edward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised.
His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to make illustrations of birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; and as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred Tennyson's poems.
As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson's poetry.

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Community Reviews

Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
36(36%)
4 stars
36(36%)
3 stars
28(28%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
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100 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Jazzull
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Nonsensical nursery rhyme by Edward Lear about an owl who weds a pussycat. It was originally published in the 1800s. I do not remember it from my childhood in the 1900s. Reading it in the 2000s, it's easy to see it's from a different era.
Give this one to fans of Jan Brett's illustrations or classic nursery rhymes.
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
million_boxes
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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I remember this poem from my childhood, but it was not one of my favorites. However, this edition makes it shine. The story within the story really makes it work. There’s also sheet music included in the front of the book, composed by Douglas Colby.

Turning this poem into a part of a story about two children and their imaginative play, or fantasy land, however the reader wants to interpret it, makes it so much fun, and less weird. Frankly, it is a bit of a strange poem when it’s put out there on its own.

The illustrations are spectacular. They’re intricate and engaging and really help tell the story. There are many amusing and sweet touches. [Hilary Knight:], who illustrated the [Eloise:] books, and whose work I’ve always enjoyed, does a magnificent job here, and his art style in this book seems somewhat different from other art by him that I’ve seen. It’s easy to spend a lot of time looking at all the pictures; readers are likely to notice something new with each viewing.

Delightful. Thanks to Goodreads friend Chandra who alerted me to this book. Her review of it (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) is wonderful and well worth reading, and it convinced me to read the book.
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PheonixSauce
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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Une petite lecture bien mignonne au musée des chats de Nara au Japon. J'apprécie les illustrations !
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MinoriKaemon
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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The times I have read this book to my children and then my grandchildren are many.
Well loved book for children that has given much enjoyment over the years. Recommended.
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obSASSion
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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So fun--Love the illustrations in this one. Something classic for the kiddies!
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Saruwatari-san
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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So, I bought this at a used bookstore, because the pictures were absolutely beautiful. I suppose this is why I should learn to prescreen the books I buy my daughter. When reading this one, neither me nor my daughter were very impressed. I almost put it down to start a new one, because of how squirrely she started to get (she's two) but I finished it. It's not a horrible book, but it's just a meh one. I'm happy I didn't buy it new. Though I make a point to only buy books I have previously read when buying them new.

As an added note, I did have to giggle a little when a few nights later my husband had picked it out, and I heard his awkward tone when reading the part where the owl is singing about "what a beautiful Pussy" she is.
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meeep16
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
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I thought that this book was a cute little nursery rhyme that students can sing along too. The book is a about and owl and a cat who fall in love and go on an adventure and later on marry. I think there isn't much of a "lesson" that can be taught to children from this book other than you don't have to be similar to other people to get along. I think it was a cute little story and the illustrations were very showcasing, I had never heard of this nursery rhyme till I read this book. The wording can be a little questionable for children, but other than that I thought it was an ok nursery rhyme with a cute little story. I think that the lyrics in this poem were definitely really catchy and that is something that can pull the young readers in and keep them interested.
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