Sunday Salon: I Saw Esau (1947)

I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book. Iona and Peter Opie. Illustrations by Maurice Sendak. 1947/2012. Candlewick Press. 160 pages. [Source: Review Copy]

A collection of poems, rhymes (riddles, insults, sayings, etc.) originally compiled and published in 1947. It was an interesting read. Interesting to see what qualified as "funny" or "clever" at one time or another! Such as #59:

Moses was a holy man,
Children he had seven,
He thought he'd hire a donkey cart
And drive them all to heaven.
On the road he lost his way,
He thought he knew it well,
He overturned the donkey cart
And landed them in ----

or #86

Adam and Eve and Pinch-me
Went down to the river to bathe;
Adam and Eve were drowned,
Who'd you think was saved?

Then again it does have #45:

Moses supposes his toes are roses,
But Moses supposes erroneously.
For Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses,
As Moses supposes his toeses to be. 

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews