Alligator Pie and Other Poems: A Dennis Lee Treasury

Three classic Dennis Lee titles in one beautiful book

This giftable and shareable volume brings together three of Dennis Lee’s best-loved collections of poetry—Alligator Pie, Jelly Belly and The Ice Cream Store—spanning three decades of his warm and whimsical rhymes.

“You can almost hear the skipping rope slapping the sidewalk,” wrote Margaret Laurence of Dennis Lee’s timeless poetry collection Alligator Pie. One of the first published illustrated books about Canadian children, and featuring Frank Newfeld’s instantly recognizable original illustrations, Alligator Pie has sold more than half a million copies since its publication in 1974.

Originally published in 1983, Jelly Belly tickles readers with a mix of humour and traditional Mother Goose charm. The vivid illustrations by Juan Wijngaard (winner of the 1981 Mother Goose Award) reveal wonders as readers follow the characters throughout the book and stumble upon new and fascinating visual treasures.

In the kid-pleasing collection The Ice Cream Store, originally published in 1991, Dennis Lee delves into the special and imaginative world of children. David McPhail’s gorgeous and appealing watercolour paintings of children and animals portray both the familiar and the fantastic, extending the meaning of the poems and providing a colourful feast for the eye.