B. T. B.

Cautionary Verses

  • Cautionary Verses

  • An hilarious classic anthology of moral instruction introduced by Quentin Blake.

    If you are you prone to telling tales or running away then ignore these poems at your peril or you might suffer the same fate as Matilda, Who told lies and was Burned to Death or Jim, Who ran away from his nurse and was eaten by a Lion!

    First published over a hundred years ago, Hilaire Belloc's tongue-in-cheek poems of moral instruction for children, with amusing illustrations by B.T.B. and Quentin Blake, are as sharp, funny and memorable as ever.

Hilaire Belloc was born in France and educated at Newman's Oratory School and at Balliol College, Oxford. From 1906 to 1910 he was Liberal MP for Salford and literary editor of the Morning Post. As well as writing books of verse and novels, he also wrote on religious, social and political topics.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.