This volume, which collects the four books of "nonsense" published by Lear during his lifetime, contains all of his most celebrated verse and prose productions, from his first collection of limericks, A Book of Nonsense, to his Nonsense Songs and Stories - which includes 'The Owl and the Pussy Cat', long considered one of the nation's favourite poems, as well as many lesser-known pieces composed in the same waywardly imaginative vein.

Embodying his passion for the absurd, Lear's limericks, stories, alphabets and botanical sketches, each accompanied by one of the author's beguiling original illustrations, are fun, lyrical, lively and hilarious, and have enchanted children and adults since their first appearance in print.