Contemplate a hedgehog's bristles, a crab's bad mood, a pea who believes it was meant to be a butterfly, and ?other wonderful images? in Inger Hagerup's poems."Gaugin’s original illustrations are attractively rendered in black-line cartoon style with splotches of light green, royal blue, aquamarine, pumpkin, and mustard. The book’s appealing cover will engage children, and the poems might prompt them to create their own silly rhymes.–School Library Journal, starred review.


The combination of handwritten, informal verse and Paul René Gauguin?s avant garde illustrations has proven to be an irresistible and endlessly delightful combination for children and adults alike. Alive with sound, shape, and color, Hagerup's children's poems are still known by heart by every Norwegian child and collections of her poetry can be found on every child?'s bookshelf.