Catching Up With the Owl and the Pussycat
By JOHN WILLIAMS
Ever wonder what became of the owl and the pussycat from Edward Lear’s famous 1870 poem? Last seen, they “danced by the light of the moon” after having been married by a turkey.
Julia Donaldson, who recently finished a two-year term as Britain’s
Children’s Laureate, has just published a sequel, “The Further
Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat,” illustrated by Charlotte
Voake.
Ms. Donaldson told the British newspaper Metro that she was “wooed” by a publisher to continue the story, and that the idea “instantly appealed to me. I have always loved Edward Lear and welcomed the challenge to compose a new adventure using the same meter and nonsense language. The whole poem isn’t nonsense: there can be an underlying emotional sense to it. The ‘nonsense’ comes in the language.” She wrote in The Telegraph: “I like to think of it as a kind of thank-you to Lear for giving me so much childhood pleasure.”
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” has inspired many other artists, including Beatrix Potter, whose book “The Tale of Little Pig Robinson,” published in 1930, is a prequel about the pig who makes a brief appearance in Lear’s tale.
Ms. Donaldson told the British newspaper Metro that she was “wooed” by a publisher to continue the story, and that the idea “instantly appealed to me. I have always loved Edward Lear and welcomed the challenge to compose a new adventure using the same meter and nonsense language. The whole poem isn’t nonsense: there can be an underlying emotional sense to it. The ‘nonsense’ comes in the language.” She wrote in The Telegraph: “I like to think of it as a kind of thank-you to Lear for giving me so much childhood pleasure.”
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” has inspired many other artists, including Beatrix Potter, whose book “The Tale of Little Pig Robinson,” published in 1930, is a prequel about the pig who makes a brief appearance in Lear’s tale.