The Owl and the Pussycat

By Edward Lear, Jan Brett

Categories: Children's Books

This picture book (Putnam) pairs Edward Lear's 1871 nonsense poem The Owl and the Pussycat with Jan Brett's paintings, set in the Caribbean. Owl woos Pussycat with a guitar in a pea-green boat, and they sail away for a year and a day to the land where the Bong-tree grows. Brett drew on a trip to the Caribbean, and beneath the boat a second story unfolds as a small yellow fish swims among exotic sea creatures, seeming to look for someone.

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• Richard Branson: “What's my favourite book to read to my grandkids? The Owl and the Pussycat.”