NONSENSE VERSE

Hussey’s jewel-hued, tongue-in-cheek art gyres and gimbles about and between 13 Carrollian selections: a mix of the usual suspects; a pair of limericks; and such lesser known gems as “The King Fisher’s Song,” “Little Birds,” and “The White Knight’s Ballad”— “I’ll tell thee everything I can; / There’s little to relate. / I saw an aged aged man, / A-sitting on a gate. / ‘Who are you, aged man?’ I said. / ‘And how is it you live?’ / And his answer trickled through my head / Like water through a sieve.” Most of the small accompanying figures, human or animal, are richly dressed and posed to show off their finery to best effect; some, such as the winged pig coming in for a landing beside the sated Walrus and Carpenter, refer directly back to the text, while others take fanciful tangents. Despite the lack of cited sources, this makes a tasty literary snack on the way to Wonderland. (Poetry. 7-10)