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THE KING'S BREAKFAST

4.6 20^th century flourish

The century saw children's poetry thrive on both sides of the Atlantic. It became an essential part of every important story written for kids. For instance, The Hobbit by John R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) is full of poems and songs which the characters immediately start singing or chanting the circumstances permitting. By the way, the Russian translations are not in the least poor, yet they somehow lack the charm and the playfulness found in the original.

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) is a prominent English writer and poet for children. In fact, she began to write tales and verses at the prodigious age of six. It was not a surprising trait in a child born into a family of a well-known writer Benjamin Farjeon. Books by Eleanor Farjeon came to be as popular as Edward Lear's or Alan Milne's ones. In 1955 she was awarded the Carnegie Medal for her collection of children's tales. Shortly afterwards the author received the first ever International Hans Andersen Medal. The award is often called the Nobel Prize for Children's Literature.

One of the most distinguished British poets, Professor of poetry at Oxford Robert Graves (1895—1985) contributed to children's literature too. He is one of the 'lost generation', like Aldington, but Graves said good-bye to all that (the title of his book about the war) back in 1929. His poems for children are tender and emotional, simple and meaningful.

Two other authors are James Reeves (1909—1978) and Ian Serailler (1912—1989). Both actually started their careers as teachers. Reeves lived mostly in the country, and many of his poems reflect this kind of experience. He taught at schools and lectured to teachers, and later devoted all his time to writing and broadcasting. Ian Serraillier is essentially a writer for children. As a schoolmaster he discovered how to recommend poetry to boys and girls. For his verse he chose many familiar tales and legends, retold and reshaped them, twisted some, fully re-clothed others, in the kind of language he knew would be acceptable. The matter-of-fact and the nonsensical most unexpectedly blend in his poems and capture the attention of readers.

In the United States, with their cult of childhood, poetry for kids is in full blooming. There come out lots of marvelously illustrated books intended for kids and their parents. From the older generation, one celebrated author is known as Dr. Seuss. He is in fact Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), author, artist, and publisher. He was educated at the University of Oxford, as a student of English literature. A self-taught sketch artist, for almost a decade Geisel earned a living as a cartoonist until, in 1937, using the pen name Dr. Seuss, he wrote and illustrated his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.

Its simple rhymed text and whimsy humor made it an instant success, and it was followed soon after by other books. Не received a special Pulitzer Prize citation in 1984 for his lifetime contribution to the education and enjoyment of America's children and their parents.John Ciardi (1916-1986) was a poet, teacher, and critic. Some of his 40 volumes of criticism and poetry include several acclaimed books of children's verse.

Here is a good example (Text 51).