Ein Biesterbuch Für Kleine Böse Wichte Und Noch Mehr Biester Für Noch Bösere Wichte

by Hilaire Belloc

First American publication in facsimile of three works first published separately in England in the 1890s and now rare. A clean, bright, unmarked copy.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction, Picture Books

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc, French-born British writer, is considered a master of light English prose and also widely known for his droll verse, especially The Bad Child's Book of Beasts in 1896.

The sharp wit of Belloc, an historian, poet, and orator, extended across a large literary output and strong political and religious convictions. Throughout his career, he prolifically wrote across a range of genres and produced histories, essays, travelogues, poetry, and satirical works.

Cautionary Tales for Children collects humorous yet dark morals, and the historical works of Hilaire Belloc often reflected his staunch Catholicism and critique of Protestant interpretations. He led advocates of an economic theory that promoted and championed distribution of small-scale property ownership as a middle ground between capitalism and socialism, alongside Gilbert Keith Chesterton, his close friend.

In politics, Hilaire Belloc served as a member of Parliament for the Liberal party, but the establishment disillusioned him. His polemical style and strong opinions made him a controversial figure, who particularly viewed modernism, secularism, and financial capitalism as threats to traditional Christian society in his critiques.

Reviews

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry, but this is a very awful book! Let me recite one of the pages:
The hippopotamus
I shoot a hippopotamus
With bullets made of platinum
Because if I use leaden ones
His hide is sure to flatten ‘em

And here’s another one:
The Camelopard (giraffe)
The camelopard, it is said
By travelers (who never lie),
He cannot stretch out straight in bed
Because he his so high.
The clouds surround his lofty head,
His hornlets touch the sky.
How shall I HUNT this quadruped?
I cannot tell!
Not I!
(A picture of how people try and fail to hit that head so high)
I’ll buy a little parachute
... I’ll fill it full of arrowroot
And other necessary things,
And I will slay this fearful brute
with stones and sticks and guns and slings
(A picture of how people shoot with comfort from a parachute)

So this book is telling us that we should KILL animals and it’s ALRIGHT?!?
whoever wrote this book should be taught about how wrong that is!

And also, this is a joke book. I didn’t find it very funny.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A peculiar and witty volume of parodied children's verses. Quick and funny. Outdated and probably offensive to today's readership (I noted a few racial slurs), but nevertheless worth reading.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the poetry; I loved the drawings; I loved the content.

[Jem43 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildly funny and macbre pre-e. gorey humour. In Bellocs world all manner of mishap befall the contumacios child. His prose may seem acrimonious and vituperative, but Belloc possesses a perspicacious wit and alacrity, with which he tenderly disects, and leaves you wanting more.

[Miramira Endevall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious; would have gotten 5 stars but for the blatant, unapologetic, Victorian racism.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, and so stylistically charming that it's easy to forgive how uneven it can be. When it works, it flies off the goddamn page.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book for young children to learn poetry.