This edition brings together all the verse written for children by James Reeves, one of the best-loved English poets for the young in the 20th century. It shows all the qualities which have especially endeared his poems to young readers - variety of mood, high spirits and humour, and the musical element which make his poems a delight to read aloud and a pleasure to memorise. Poems for children, he believed, should speak for themselves, sing themselves, and picture themselves.

The success of Reeve's lifelong collaboration with Edward Ardizzone lies in the pictorial quality of these poems. Above all, both poet and artist worked for their own enjoyment and out of respect for their young readers,