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
Rating★★★★ 4.4 (41.2K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
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
Mostrar todos os capítulosVer menos
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
Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson7h 17m4.0 (657K)$1.20 · $0.00
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeRobert Louis Stevenson2h 42m4.0 (824.5K)$1.20 · $0.00
El diablo de la botellaRobert Louis Stevenson1h 21m4.0 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
L'île au trésorRobert Louis Stevenson8h 23m4.1 (514.9K)$22 · $0.00
El barón de BallantraeRobert Louis Stevenson9h 55m3.9 (12.2K)$0.70 · $0.00
The Master of BallantraeRobert Louis Stevenson9h 2m3.8 (15.6K)$0.60 · $0.00
The Black ArrowRobert Louis Stevenson8h 50m3.9 (26.3K)$1.20 · $0.00
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeRobert Louis Stevenson2h 42m4.0 (714.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
BajamarRobert Louis Stevenson5h 25m3.7 (874)$0.70 · $0.00
A Christmas SermonRobert Louis Stevenson18m3.4 (90)$16 · $0.00
Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson7h 13m4.1 (628.8K)$1.20 · $0.00
CatrionaRobert Louis Stevenson11h 2m3.9 (4.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
Le Maître de BallantraeRobert Louis Stevenson9h 38m3.9 (9.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
CatrionaRobert Louis Stevenson10h 24m$1.20 · $0.00
Les nouvelles mille et une nuitsRobert Louis Stevenson7h 52m3.7 (4.8K)$12 · $0.00
St. IvesRobert Louis Stevenson14h 19m3.8 (632)$1.20 · $0.00
In the South SeasRobert Louis Stevenson10h 43m3.8 (1.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes (Annotated)Robert Louis Stevenson3h 40m3.9 (3.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
St. Ives (Annotated)Robert Louis Stevenson14h 22m4.3 (40)$1.20 · $0.00
The Complete Poetry of Dylan Thomas (Annotated)Dylan Thomas4h 53m4.7 (1.2K)$2.99 · $0.00
Dickinson: The Complete Works (Annotated)Emily Dickinson16h 56m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
TerraformPropaganda5h 39m4.7 (594)$24 · $0.00
Maybe You Never Cry AgainBernie Mac4h 25m4.6 (3K)$20 · $0.00
Inquire WithinIn-Q2h 18m4.6 (993)$16 · $0.00
The Complete Poetry (The Classic Illustrated Edition)Samuel Taylor Coleridge26h 23m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Weary Blues (Annotated)Langston Hughes2h 13m4.5 (4.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated)Edgar Allan Poe18h 27m4.5 (4.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Complete Poetry (Annotated)Oscar Wilde6h 44m4.5 (15.5K)$2 · $0.00
Saundarya LahariUnknown Author3h 16m4.6 (256)$18 · $0.00
The Mesnevi (Annotated)Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi18h 41m4.5 (4.2K)$2 · $0.00
Songs of a SourdoughRobert W. Service2h 13m4.5 (13.6K)$1 · $0.00
Little Flower of Jesus (Annotated)Thérèse of Lisieux5h 4m4.5 (1.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Poems of LeopardiGiacomo Leopardi3h 9m4.5 (3.6K)$2 · $0.00
Nikki Giovanni: Love Poems & A Good CryNikki Giovanni2h 44m4.6 (405)$18 · $0.00
The Complete Poetry of Walt Whitman (Annotated)Walt Whitman19h 58m4.5 (4.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
A Year with RumiColeman Barks5h 56m4.5 (2.6K)$24 · $0.00
Complete Poetry of Rudyard Kipling (Annotated)Rudyard Kipling22h 50m4.5 (2.6K)$3.99 · $0.00
The Complete PoemsPaul Laurence Dunbar12h 40m4.5 (1.5K)$21 · $0.00
The Odes of John Keats - Complete CollectionJohn Keats22h 16m4.5 (1.3K)$1 · $0.00
The Elementia Chronicles #3: Herobrine's MessageSean Fay Wolfe19h 18m4.7 (560)$40 · $0.00
Big Nate Blasts OffLincoln Peirce2h 4m4.7 (13.7K)$16 · $0.00
A Wolf Called FireRosanne Parry4h 7m4.7 (1.2K)$7 · $0.00
The Daughter of AuschwitzTova Friedman3h 2m4.6 (15.6K)$18 · $0.00
RevolutionariesSanjeev Sanyal7h 25m4.6 (1.9K)$24 · $0.00
Warriors #6: The Darkest HourErin Hunter8h 8m4.6 (70.2K)$26 · $0.00
Bible 09: 1 SamuelKing James2h 28m4.6 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Beatrix Potter: 22 Children's Books with Original IllustrationsBeatrix Potter5h 3m4.6 (3.9K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Violet Fairy Book (Annotated)Andrew Lang11h 39m4.7 (304)$2 · $0.00
Little Lord Fauntleroy (Annotated)Frances Hodgson Burnett7h 56m4.6 (1.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Nutcracker and The Mouse King (Annotated)E.T.A. Hoffmann4h 4m4.6 (1.5K)$2 · $0.00
REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM & NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA (Children's Book Classics) (Annotated)Kate Douglas Wiggin15h 32m4.6 (1.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
Just William (Illustrated) (Annotated)Richmal Crompton6h 30m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labors of Hercules BealGary D. Schmidt8h 17m4.6 (10.4K)$8 · $0.00
Clancy of the Overflow (The Matilda Saga, #9)Jackie French14h 24m4.6 (471)$33 · $0.00
The Great Fairy Tales - Oscar Wilde Edition (Illustrated) (Annotated)Oscar Wilde6h 31m4.6 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll3h4.5 (5.9K)$7.99 · $0.00
The Boy Who Followed His Father into AuschwitzJeremy Dronfield6h 54m4.5 (28.5K)$24 · $0.00
Bat and the End of EverythingElana K. Arnold2h 40m4.6 (2.3K)$18 · $0.00
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #6: Ghost HunterMichelle Paver6h 20m4.5 (11.7K)$24 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Pride & Prejudice (Annotated)Jane Austen15h 10m4.7 (13.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Jeeves and Wooster Stories: The Complete Collection (33 Books)P. G. Wodehouse21h 57m4.7 (2.8K)$15 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m4.7 (8.9K)$46 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m4.6 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$15 · $0.00
TWELFTH NIGHTWilliam Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Complete Histories / History Plays of William Shakespeare (Annotated)William Shakespeare29h 42m4.6 (2.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
Braving the TruthRachel Held Evans11h 31m4.7 (359)$29 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Mis-Education of the NegroCarter Goodwin Woodson4h 32m4.5 (28.4K)$10 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
You may also like
A Child's Garden of VersesRobert Louis Stevenson1h4.4 (135.4K)$10
THE WAVESVirginia Woolf9h 35m4.2 (72.4K)$1 · $0.00
The WavesVirginia Woolf8h 4m4.2 (67.1K)$2.30
Bashan and IThomas Mann4h3.8 (1.1K)$2.30
Summer SnowRobert Hass4h4.0 (462)$20 · $0.00
Flame and ShadoSara Teasdale45m4.4 (343)Free
To the LighthouseVirginia Woolf8h 42m4.0 (260.1K)$2 · $0.00
SonnetsWilliam Shakespeare2h 39m4.4 (128.3K)$2 · $0.00
The Crescent MoonRabindranath Tagore59m4.3 (8.1K)$4.10 · $0.00
When You See My Mother, Ask Her to DanceJoan Baez2h 9m4.1 (744)$15
Coleridge and Wordsworth: Lyrical Ballads & Other PoemsSamuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth22h 26m4.1 (16.7K)$1.99 · $0.00
The Christmas SistersSarah Morgan12h 33m4.1 (23.2K)$29 · $0.00
Anne Of Green Gables: Complete 8-Book Box SetL.M Montgomery74h 55m4.6 (115.2K)$0.50 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery10h 26m4.4 (1.3M)Free
My Ántonia (Annotated)Willa Cather8h 37m4.2 (7K)$1.20 · $0.00
The WavesVirginia Woolf9h 22m4.2 (68.8K)$2 · $0.00
Chasing Down the DawnJewel2h 1m4.1 (909)$16 · $0.00
ZhobSaraban K. K.43m5.0 (11) Only with Ultra
Sigurd Our Golden Collie, and Other Comrades of the RoadKatharine Lee Bates7h 57m$2 · $0.00
Old MonarchCourtney Marie Andrews1h 11m3.9 (307)$15