Nash, Ogden Books

The Tale of Custard the Dragon

Ogden Nash, Lynn Munsinger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Just because you *say* you're brave (or not) 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Spoiler alert: So many apparently gullible readers have reviewed this poem, that I'm going to tell you the entire plot. If you want to be surprised, then just move on to the next review.

(1) Belinda and three other pets *say* that they're very brave. Custard the Dragon *says* that he'd rather live some place safe. Based on what they *say* about themselves, the four "brave" characters tease the one "cowardly" character.

(2) When a pirate breaks into the house, the four "brave" characters instantly turn tail and run away. Cowardly Custard, however, stands his ground during the attack and ends up eating the pirate.

(3) Once the danger is past, all the so-called brave characters come back and thank Custard.

(4) Ultimately, however -- and this is more like the real world than a fairy tale -- Belinda and the "brave" pets go back to their habit of saying that they're really brave, and Custard goes back to saying that he'd really rather live in a nice safe place.

This poem is an interesting bit of commentary on our own willful blindness to our faults, our narcissistic dependence on erroneous self-talk, and one of our stupider working definitions of bravery.

This book is an excellent opportunity for you to talk to your kids about the difference between what people *say* and how they behave. Who's really the brave character after all? Is it always safe to trust a person's self-description? Is there anything wrong with Custard preferring security to danger? If you were there, would you want to tease Custard, or to tell that self-deceived Belinda to put a sock in it? If you saw someone picking on another person on the playground just because they're different, then should you be ganging up with the Belindas of the world, or sticking up for the Custards?

If you're at all familiar with the parable of the two sons in the vineyard (see Matthew 21:31's "Which of the two did his father's will?" question), then you won't have any trouble figuring out the difference between Belinda's brave words and Custard's brave actions. This poem may be beyond the ken of a two year old, but it shouldn't have been so confusing for so many adult reviewers. Just repeat after me: "Actions speak louder than words," and "Do not believe everything you hear."

Editorial Review:

Do you remember brave Belinda and her "realio, trulio, little pet dragon"? This Ogden Nash classic has been a favorite of children for more than 60 years and until recently was unavailable in a picture-book version. Artist Lynn Munsinger has rejuvenated the poem with her chuckle-inducing illustrations of no-nonsense Belinda and the cowardly green and purple dragon Custard. Belinda was a brave role model for young girls back when females weren't encouraged to stand up for themselves, and Custard's hidden reserve of strength has no doubt inspired children for several generations. Hooked on Custard? The next adventure unfolds in Custard the Dragon and the Wicked Knight, which followed this popular picture book. (Ages 3 to 8)

The Adventures of Isabel With Audio CD (Poetry Telling Stories)

Ogden Nash

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $6.89

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Literature -> Poetry -> Humorous

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Meet Isabel, a remarkable girl (based on Ogden Nash's own daughter) who encounters four fearsome foes and doesn't worry, scream or scurry. Courage, spunk and a lot of humor help make Isabel's adventures something you'll share over and over again.

Beautiful watercolor paintings bring The Adventures of Isabel vividly to life, while the audio CD of Ogden Nash reading his classic poem will let everyone follow the amazing exploits of Isabel!

As a bonus on audio CD, Ogden Nash reads The Adventures of Isabel

Ogden Nash was born in New York in 1902 and wrote The Adventures of Isabel in the 1930s. He published hundreds of poems, many of them for his two daughters, Linell and Isabel. They occasionally appeared as characters in his poems, as Isabel does in The Adventures of Isabel. Nash died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1971.

Bridget Starr Taylor and her husband have two sons, a daughter, and very recently twin grandchildren. She and her family live in New York and spend summers and weekends at her farm in Connecticut. Bridget rides a bike wherever she goes and plays tennis, most often in polka-dotted shorts!

Ogden Nash's Zoo

Ogden Nash, Etienne Delessert

List Price: $10.95 By: Stewart, Tabori and Chang Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $3.25

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

My favorite bedtime read to my daughters. 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 27 people found this review helpful.

I look forward to these verses again and again. Unlike most bedtime stories, you can set the length of reading time to your situation. the humor stimulates your imagination and makes you want to add verses. Just lots of fun!

Nash-itize! 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 18 people found this review helpful.

Ogden Nash is my favorite poet, and I probably like his poems on different animals the most. They're quicker. Quick poems are prefferred by me, because they don't take too long to read and I can sit and think about them, and even feel like reading them again. Here's one, and I didn't write it, Ogden Nash did:

The ant has made himself illustrious
Through constant industry industrious
So what?
Would you be calm and placid
If you were full of formic acid?

Nash-ional best seller 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 18 people found this review helpful.

At the risk of seeming rash
I recommend this book by Nash.
I haven't found a rhyme for Ogden,
Although I came close once when fogged-in.

By the way this book is NOT by Etienne Delessert, as listed above, although he is the illustrious illustrator.

Editorial Review:

A new collection of some of the verses about animals with an illustration for every verse from Etienne Delessart.

Custard the Dragon and the Wicked Knight (Library of Nations)

Ogden Nash

List Price: $6.99 By: Little, Brown Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $24.79

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

WHO WOULD NOT WANT A TRULIO PET DRAGON 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

MY SON LOVES BOTH OF OGDEN NASHES BOOKS..........
AND THEY ARE FUN TO READ!
SOMEWHAT CAT IN THE HATTISH-

Custard the Dragon 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Quickly became a favorite of my grandson (5) and granddaughter (4). The illustrations are brilliant, and Ogden Nash's verse is clever and memorable.

Loved long ago, passing to new generation 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We grew up 45 years ago with this being the most loved book at my grandmother's house. We could not wait to have it read to us. Now I am the Grandma, and I am purchasing this for my grandchildren so that they too can live in the dream world of custard.

Cute story 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

My 4yo son enjoyed this story and the role reversal between the usually fierce dragon and the good-hearted night is a refreshing twist, although my son doesn't really get the irony of the other animals teasing poor Custard because he is cowardly and then making excuses themselves for not going to save the little girl. . . . he just sees it as the animals being mean with no consequence. A little hard to explain, but an entertaining story overall.

Editorial Review:

A second rhyming adventure of Custard the cowardly dragon finds the household of the self-professed brave pets in an uproar when Belinda is kidnapped by an evil knight, and Custard must fend for himself when his companions abandon him.

Parents Keep Out Elderly Poems for Younger Readers

Ogden Nash

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Scroobious Pip

Edward Lear

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Moon Is Shining Bright As Day

Ogden Nash

List Price: $12.95 By: HarperCollins Children's Books Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $13.91

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

One I grew up with - and still love 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

"Blum" "Blum is a word ..." I cannot hear the title of this book without having the poem "Blum" come to mind. This is not because it is the best poem in the anthology - rather it is because I have not found the poem elsewhere.

This is a delightful collection of humorous verse that is child-oriented without dumbing-down to some low-life expectation of children's appreciation for verse. It recognizes a child's sense of poetic rhythm without sliding into sing-song verses.

In short, this collection edited by Ogden Nash has all the qualities you expect in his own work... absolutely delightful ... with illustrations nearly as delightful as the poems.

An example I can quote 40 years later: Germans live in Germany / Romans live in Rome / Turks live in Turkey / But English live at home.

Custard and Company

Ogden Nash

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Editorial Review:

An illustrated collection of humorous poems on a variety of topics.

The Cruise of the Aardvark

Ogden Nash, Wendy Watson

List Price: $6.95 By: M Evans & Co Amazon Marketplace: 7 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book for kids and adults! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

In my opinion, The Cruise of the Aardvark is one of Ogden Nash's best works. While toned down a bit, his sarcastic wit and unique verse is quite entertaining. The book is also educational, as children (and adults) learn some facts about aardvarks they may not have known. The book also has a great moral, teaching that everyone is unique, and while we're different, we are equally made. I reccomend this book for anyone, whether they have kids or not. I don't have kids, but I like to keep a copy on my coffee table for when I have guests. It always gets a good laugh.

The Animal Garden

Ogden Nash

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

This book taught me to love reading 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

One of my earliest memories of reading includes The Animal Garden. My grandparents had it at their house, and they probably read it to me hundreds of times. They loved all sorts of poetry, and I loved the idea of planting seeds that would grow into pets just like flowers. I still find it to be a great read because of the wonderful verse and the enthralling pictures. I think a nostalgic vision of Abidan Alseed will be with me always.

I wish that Nash's books would come back into print. I think that my children would love him now as much as I did in the '60s!