The second anthology I am highlighting this month is One Hundred Best Poems for Boys and Girls compiled by Marjorie Barrows. The copy I have was published in 1930. I found this copy hiding on the shelf of a used book store a few years ago. It has a superb selection of poems, plus I love the black silhouette illustrations. It contains many favorite poems from childhood by Rachel Field, Edward Lear, and Robert Lewis Stevenson. I found comfort in this poem picturing this Rhodes Scholar studying at Oxford, perhaps thinking of animal crackers and cocoa back home!Animal Crackers
by Christopher Morley.
Animal crackers and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.
What do YOU choose when you're offered a treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love most!
The kitchen's the cosiest place that I know;
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight, how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.
Daddy and Mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;
And Daddy once said, he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!
Thanks so much. That could be the book. Those are definitely the illustrations. The partial one i have is probably a more recetn editions because some of the poems have a notation that they were used by permission and copyrighted 1933.
ReplyDeleteIt really does have good poetry.
"Mother's kneading, kneading dough
in and out her fingers go..."