Although he may have wished to be remembered as a more "serious" writer,
the 19th-century English poet Edward Lear left an important legacy of
limericks to the canon of nonsense verse. One of Lear's most famous
five-line poems, "There was an Old Man with a beard," here receives full
illustrative treatment from Swiss-American artist Etienne Delessert,
whose work celebrates and seeks to expand the imaginative capacities of
children. Intended to set the stage for a forthcoming series of
standalone poems, Nonsense! Book One will whet young readers' appetites
for further adventures in rhyme.