A Blog of Bosh

Edward Lear, by Jackie Wullschlager
… His fantastical characters mirror the passage of his own life. The Yonghy Bonghy Bo’s hilarious courtship of Lady Jingly Jones parallels his own failed attempts at proposing to a female friend who might have accepted him; just a shred of absurdity links the sad, ridiculous Dong with a Luminous Nose, [...]

Queen of hearts and minds
The fascination with Lewis Carroll’s Alice books endures because of their use of language, writes AS Byatt, and because he created the least sentimental child character in children’s literature Guardian Unlimited Books | Review

Ridiculous rhymes
From the familiar “runcible spoon” and “hills of the Chankly Bore” to previously unpublished letters, this is an irresistible collection of Edward Lear’s poetry, prose and illustrations. Three alphabets introduce even the very youngest listeners or readers to the teasing word-play that makes old favourites such as “The Jumblies”, “The Owl and the Pussy [...]