Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was born in La Celle Saint Cloud, France, on July 27, 1870. His father was Louis Belloc, a French lawyer, and his mother was renowned English writer and women's advocate Bessie Rayner Parks. Hilaire married Elodie Hogan, his long-time love, on June 15, 1896, after his graduation from Oxford. The two had five children before her death in 1914. During his distinguished career, Hilaire wrote over 150 books on poetry, warfare, religion, and other prevalent topics. He was also one of the big four of Edwardian Letters, putting him in the ranks of HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw, and GK Chesterton. Hillaire Belloc died on July 16, 1953, at Mt. Alvernia Nursing Home in Guilford, Surrey. However, his legacy in writing, history, and politics lives on. His most acclaimed book, and the one we are reading from, is The Cautionary Tales for Children. Published in 1907, this book of poems describes humorous situations with a stark moral lesson. To learn more about this poet, click the link above or check out his Wikipedia page!