''Cautionary Tales for Children: Designed for the Admonition of Children between the ages of eight and fourteen years'' is a 1907

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

written by

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

. It is a parody of the

cautionary tales A cautionary tale is a tale told in folklore to warn its listener of a Risk, danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is stated: some a ...

that were popular in the 19th century. The work is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

in the United States. Illustrated by Belloc's friend from Oxford

Basil Temple Blackwood Lord Ian Basil Gawaine Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (4 November 18703 July 1917), known as Lord Basil Temple Blackwood, was a British lawyer, civil servant and book illustrator. Early life Temple Blackwood was the third son and fifth child of Fre ...

, it is similar in style to '' The Bad Child's Book of Beasts'' which had brought Belloc public acclaim and commercial success a decade earlier. The book contains an introduction and eleven tales, all written in

rhyming couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the t ...

s. *"Introduction: Upon being asked by a Reader whether the verses contained in this book were true." *"Jim: Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion." *"Henry King: Who chewed bits of string, and was early cut off in Dreadful agonies." *"Matilda: Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death." *"Franklin Hyde: Who caroused in the Dirt and was corrected by His Uncle." *"Godolphin Horne: Who was cursed with the Sin of Pride, and, Became a Boot-black." *"Algernon: Who played with a Loaded Gun, and, on missing his Sister, was reprimanded by his Father." *"Hildebrand: Who was frightened by a Passing Motor, and was brought to reason." *"Lord Lundy: Who was too Freely Moved to Tears, and thereby ruined his Political Career." *"Rebecca: Who Slammed Doors For Fun And Perished Miserably." *"George: Who played with a Dangerous Toy, and suffered a Catastrophe of considerable Dimensions." *"Charles Augustus Fortescue: Who Always Did what was Right, and so Accumulated an Immense Fortune." Four of the ''Cautionary Tales'' were set to music by

Liza Lehmann Liza Lehmann (11 July 1862 – 19 September 1918) was an English soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.Banfield, Stephen. Grove Music Online' After vocal studies with Alberto Randegger and Jenny Lind, and composition studies ...

in 1909; the famous

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

Clara Butt Dame Clara Ellen Butt, (1 February 1872 – 23 January 1936) was an English contralto and one of the most popular singers from the 1890s through to the 1920s. She had an exceptionally fine contralto voice and an agile singing technique, and imp ...

sang the piece in a successful tour of Britain in the same year.

Caedmon Records Caedmon Audio and HarperCollins Audio are record label imprints of HarperCollins Publishers that specialize in audiobooks and other literary content. Formerly Caedmon Records, its marketing tag-line was Caedmon: a Third Dimension for the Printe ...

released ' The Bab Ballads of WS Gilbert and Cautionary Verses of Hilaire Belloc', in 1959, on: Caedmon TC-1104. The 'Ballads' were read by

Stanley Holloway Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...

; and the 'Tales', by

Joyce Grenfell Joyce Irene Grenfell OBE (''née'' Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English diseuse, singer, actress and writer. She was known for the songs and monologues she wrote and performed, at first in revues and later in her solo s ...

. The British actor

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

recorded a selection of the verses as an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

in 1992, and the American artist

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other w ...

created 61 new illustrations for the book, which were published posthumously in 2002.

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

writer and singer

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...

used the book as the basis for the song "

Matilda Mother "Matilda Mother" is a song by British band Pink Floyd, featured on their 1967 debut album, ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn''. Written by Syd Barrett, it is sung mostly by Richard Wright with Barrett joining in on choruses and singing the whole la ...

" from the 1967 album ''

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, gu ...

''.

References

{{reflist 1907 children's books 1907 poetry books Children's poetry books English poetry collections British children's books Books by Hilaire Belloc

See also

References