Audio only
Length38m
About this audiobook
First published in 1885 under the title Penny Whistles, "A Child's Garden of Verses" is a collection of poetry for children by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, a collection that concerns childhood, illness, play, and solitude. Stevenson dedicated the poems to his nurse Alison Cunningham, who cared for him during his many childhood illnesses. The collection includes some of Stevenson’s most famous poems, including “The Land of Counterpane”, “My Shadow" and “The Lamplighter”.
Many of the poems describe the imaginative life of the child. In “Pirate Story”, for example, the garden becomes the setting for pirate adventure. “The Land of Nod” describes the dream land that children can only visit when they are asleep.
Some of the poems, particularly those in “The Child Alone” section evoke the loneliness of being young, ill and without companions (certainly Stevenson was here remembering his own childhood). Children in these poems (for example “The Unseen Playmate”. “My Ship and I”, and “My Kingdom”) use their imaginations to entertain themselves, rather than the company of a friend.
Poems in the “Garden Days” section of the collection are concerned with nature and the seasons. Other poems in the book are moral reminders to children. For example, “Good and Bad Children” warns that children who behave badly will be disliked as adults.
The “Envoys” section of poetry consists of poems dedicated to Stevenson’s friends and family, particularly those who he spent time with at Colinton Manse when he was a child. His experiences at the manse playing in the garden inspired many of the poems in the collection.
In the last poem of the collection, “To Any Reader”, Stevenson reminds his readers that all children eventually grow up, and that these poems are memories of a time that has past. This poem also serves to show that A Child’s Garden of Verses is not just a book for children, but addresses adult themes like loss and loneliness.
Audiobook details
GenrePoetry, Children's Literature, Literary Classics
Length38 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateNov 14, 2020
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES
23Escape At Bedtime
2To Alison Cunningham
24From A Railway Carriage
3Bed In Summer
25The Wind
4Young Night Thought
26Auntie's Skirts
5Rain
27Happy Thought
Show all chaptersShow less
6My Shadow
28The Cow
7Time to Rise
29My Bed Is A Boat
8At the Seaside
30The Land Of Nod
9Windy-Nights
31Fairy Bread
10Pirate Story
32Keepsake Mill
11Whole Duty Of Children
33Winter-Time
12Foreign Lands
34Looking-Glass River
13System
35The Sun's Travels
14A Good Play
36The Lamplighter
15The Land Of Counterpane
37Foreign Children
16A Good Boy
38The Moon
17Looking Forward
39The Hayloft
18The Swing
40Farewell To The Farm
19Good And Bad Children
41A Thought
20Marching Song
42Singing
21Travel
43North-West Passage
22Where Go The Boats?
44To My Mother
Les nouvelles mille et une nuitsRobert Louis Stevenson7h 52m$12 · $0.00
St. IvesRobert Louis Stevenson14h 19m$1.20 · $0.00
In the South SeasRobert Louis Stevenson10h 43m$1.20 · $0.00
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (Annotated)Robert Louis Stevenson3h 40m$1.20 · $0.00
St. Ives (Annotated)Robert Louis Stevenson14h 22m$1.20 · $0.00
In the South Seas (Annotated)Robert Louis Stevenson10h 46m$1.20 · $0.00
The Misadventures of John NicholsonRobert Louis Stevenson2h 32m$0.60 · $0.00
SecuestradoRobert Louis Stevenson8h 59m$23 · $0.00
KidnappedRobert Louis Stevenson8h 15m$1.80 · $0.00
Il trafugatore di salmeRobert Louis Stevenson1h 42m$3.50 · $0.00
The Black ArrowRobert Louis Stevenson8h 11m$1.80 · $0.00
Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson7h 12m$1.80 · $0.00
The Master of BallantraeRobert Louis Stevenson9h 4m$1.80 · $0.00
L’isola delle vociRobert Louis Stevenson1h 41m$3.50 · $0.00
MarkheimRobert Louis Stevenson1h 36m$3.50 · $0.00
La isla del tesoroRobert Louis Stevenson7h 52m$1.80 · $0.00
La Freccia NeraRobert Louis Stevenson8h 59m$13 · $0.00
L'isola del tesoroRobert Louis Stevenson7h 31m$12 · $0.00
La Freccia NeraRobert Louis Stevenson9h 49m$2.30 · $0.00
Inquire WithinIn-Q2h 18m$16 · $0.00
The Poetic EddaJackson Crawford6h 24m$17
Poems of ParentingLoryn Brantz42m4.0 (1)$9 · $0.00
The Weary Blues (Annotated)Langston Hughes2h 13m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated)Edgar Allan Poe18h 27m$2 · $0.00
Stranger MusicLeonard Cohen5h 45m$20
The Essential Rumi, New Expanded EditionJalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi9h 24m$20
The Complete Poetry (Annotated)Oscar Wilde6h 44m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works (Annotated)Robert Burns38h 34m$2 · $0.00
Saundarya LahariUnknown Author3h 16m5.0 (1)$18 · $0.00
The Mesnevi (Annotated)Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi18h 41m$2 · $0.00
Songs of a SourdoughRobert W. Service2h 13m$1 · $0.00
Little Flower of Jesus (Annotated)Thérèse of Lisieux5h 4m$0.99 · $0.00
The Poems of LeopardiGiacomo Leopardi3h 9m$2 · $0.00
I Hope This Finds You WellKate Baer50m$6 · $0.00
Nikki Giovanni: Love Poems & A Good CryNikki Giovanni2h 44m$18 · $0.00
Vulnerable AFTarriona “Tank” Ball42m$4
The Complete Poetry of Walt Whitman (Annotated)Walt Whitman19h 58m$0.99 · $0.00
A Year with RumiColeman Barks5h 56m$24 · $0.00
Dear MotherBunmi Laditan1h 4m$12 · $0.00
A Wolf Called FireRosanne Parry4h 7m$7 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman3h 2m1.0 (1)$18 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal7h 25m$24 · $0.00
Warriors #6: The Darkest HourErin Hunter8h 8m$26 · $0.00
Eyes That Kiss in the CornersJoanna Ho5m$4 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Beatrix Potter (Annotated)Beatrix Potter5h 11m$2 · $0.00
Maddi's FridgeLois Brandt, Vin Vogel11m$5 · $0.00
L. FRANK BAUM - Ultimate Collection: Complete Wizard of Oz Series, The Aunt Jane's Nieces Collection (Annotated)L. Frank Baum205h 42m$0.99 · $0.00
The First Cat in Space and the Wrath of the PaperclipMac Barnett1h 29m$16 · $0.00
Little Lord Fauntleroy (Annotated)Frances Hodgson Burnett7h 56m$0.99 · $0.00
The Nutcracker and The Mouse King (Annotated)E.T.A. Hoffmann4h 4m$2 · $0.00
My Weird School Special: We're Red, Weird, and Blue! What Can We Do?Dan Gutman1h 4m$13 · $0.00
Deep ZoneTim Green6h 12m$20
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM & NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA (Children's Book Classics) (Annotated)Kate Douglas Wiggin15h 32m$0.99 · $0.00
The Pilgrim’s ProgressRousseaux Brasseur3h 22m$17
Just William (Illustrated) (Annotated)Richmal Crompton6h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Labors of Hercules BealGary D. Schmidt8h 17m$8 · $0.00
Clancy of the Overflow (The Matilda Saga, #9)Jackie French14h 24m$33 · $0.00
The House at Pooh CornerA. A. Milne3h 13m$12
The Great Fairy Tales - Oscar Wilde Edition (Illustrated) (Annotated)Oscar Wilde6h 31m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë Sisters (Annotated)Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë204h 15m$0.99 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Annotated)Oscar Wilde126h 19m$2 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of the Brontë Family Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë140h 13m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5.0 (2)$2 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Articles, Essays, Travel Sketches and Memoirs (Annotated)Anthony Trollope1096h 4m$0.99 · $0.00
Ivanhoe (Annotated)Walter Scott22h 52m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of G. K. Chesterton (Annotated)G. K. Chesterton421h 37m$1.99 · $0.00
All NovelsGeorge Orwell53h 48m$10 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott (Annotated)Louisa May Alcott226h 24m$0.99 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes series - completeArthur Conan54h 8m$3.50 · $0.00
The Fire Next TimeJames Baldwin2h 25m$15
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h$1 · $0.00
H. P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft50h 45m$2 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m$29 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Charlotte Brontë (Annotated)Charlotte Brontë80h 44m$0.99 · $0.00
You may also like
A Child's Garden of VersesRobert Louis Stevenson1h$10
Sigurd Our Golden Collie, and Other Comrades of the RoadKatharine Lee Bates7h 57m$2 · $0.00
Old MonarchCourtney Marie Andrews1h 11m$15
Love-Songs of ChildhoodEugene Field1h 45m$1 · $0.00
A Small Boy and OthersHenry James10h 26m$2.30
The WavesVirginia Woolf8h 4m$2.30
The Garden God: A Tale of Two Boys (Annotated)Forrest Reid2h 11m$0.99 · $0.00
The Secret WayZona Gale57m$2 · $0.00
Summer SnowRobert Hass4h$20 · $0.00
Bashan and IThomas Mann4h$2.30
Dream Life: A Fable of the SeasonsDonald Grant Mitchell6h 11m$1 · $0.00
SkylightCarol Muske-Dukes50m$27 · $0.00
There's Pippins and Cheese to ComeCharles S. Brooks2h 12m$1 · $0.00
To the LighthouseVirginia Woolf8h 42m$2 · $0.00
The Life, Poetry and Influence of Sappho (Annotated)Sappho, David M. Robinson7h 41m$2 · $0.00
The Crescent MoonRabindranath Tagore59m$4.10 · $0.00
When You See My Mother, Ask Her to DanceJoan Baez2h 9m$15
Just FolksEdgar A. Guest2h 45m$2 · $0.00
Amores: PoemsD. H. Lawrence2h 27m$2 · $0.00
Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Man Behind The Lyrics (Complete Illustrated Edition)Samuel Taylor Coleridge, May Byron57h 27m$0.99 · $0.00