Wolverton Hill The Boy Who Became a Parrot : A Foolish Biography of Edward Lear

Written with style and heart by Wolverton Hill and illustrated with whimsical art by Laura Carlin, this love letter to Edward Lear brings him wonderfully to life for young readers. A New York Times Best Childrens Book of 2025!Selected for The New Yorkers Holiday Gift Guide and the Politics & Prose Holiday Book Guide! One of New York Magazine / The Strategists Best New Books for Kids Published in 2025!A Politics & Prose Children & Teen Favorite of 2025!Edward Lear popularized the limerick as we know it and invented the modern literary genre of nonsense, made famous by Lewis Carroll. But did you know that as a teenager, he was a natural history artist on par with John J. Audubon? He has a memorial in Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, placing him among the UKs most important authors. Yet even still, Lear seems underappreciated. This picturebook biography will change all of that. Not only does it tell of what Lear did, it also shows who he was by conflating the naturalistic and nonsense, as Lear himself did, and by daring to be both fanciful and playful, for the facts of a life alone can never give you the full picture of a person. Lear liked children and children liked Lear, for they shared an innate sense of play and silliness, as well as a tolerance for the absurd and unusual. As Lear understood so well, being silly isnt just about having fun, as a sense of play is foundational to a resilient life. And of course, nonsense as practiced by Lear was a sharp weapon of satire... | Wolverton Hill The Boy Who Became a Parrot : A Foolish Biography of Edward Lear