Cautionary Tales for Children: Designed for the Admonition of Children between the ages of eight and fourteen years is a 1907 children's book

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 written by Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...

. It is a parody of the cautionary tales

Cautionary Tales

"Cautionary Tales" is the ninth episode of the second season of the NBC science fiction drama series Heroes. It aired on November 19 2007.-Plot:...

 that were popular in the 19th century.

Illustrated by Belloc's friend from Oxford Basil Temple Blackwood

Basil Temple Blackwood

Ian Basil Gawaine Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood styled Lord Basil Temple Blackwood, was a British lawyer, civil servant and book illustrator.-Early life:...

, it is similar in style to the The Bad Child's Book of Beasts

The Bad Child's Book of Beasts

The Bad Child's Book of Beasts is an 1896 children's book written by Hilaire Belloc. Humorously illustrated by Basil Temple Blackwood, the superficially naive verses give tongue-in-cheek advice to children. In the book, the animals tend to be sage-like, and the humans dull and self-satisfied...

which had brought Belloc public acclaim and commercial success a decade earlier. The book contains an introduction and eleven tales, all written in rhyming couplets.

• Introduction: On being asked by a reader whether the tales were true.
• Jim: Who ran away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion.
• Henry King: Who chewed bits of string, and was early cut off in Dreadful agonies.
• Matilda: Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death.
• Franklin Hyde: Who caroused in the Dirt and was corrected by His Uncle.
• Godolphin Horne: Who was cursed with the Sin of Pride, and, Became a Boot-black.
• Algernon: Who played with a Loaded Gun, and, on missing his Sister, was reprimanded by his Father.
• Hildebrand: Who was frightened by a Passing Motor, and was brought to reason.
• Lord Lundy: Who was too Freely Moved to Tears, and thereby ruined his Political Career.
• Rebecca: Who Slammed Doors For Fun And Perished Miserably.
• George: Who played with a Dangerous Toy, and suffered a Catastrophe of considerable Dimensions.
• Charles Augustus Fortescue: Who Always Did what was Right, and so Accumulated an Immense Fortune.

Four of the Cautionary Tales were set to music by Liza Lehmann

Liza Lehmann

Liza Lehmann was an English operatic soprano and composer, known for her vocal compositions.-Biography:She was born Elisabetha Nina Mary Frederica Lehmann in London. Her father was the German painter Rudolf Lehmann and her mother was Amelia Chambers, a music teacher, composer and arranger...

 in 1909; the famous contralto

Contralto

Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...

 Clara Butt

Clara Butt

Dame Clara Ellen Butt DBE , sometimes called Clara Butt-Rumford after her marriage, was an English contralto with a remarkably imposing voice and a surprisingly agile singing technique. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer.-Early life and career:Clara Butt was born in Southwick,...

 sang the piece in a successful tour of Britain in the same year. The British actor Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry

Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

 recorded a selection of the verses as an audiobook in 1992. and the American artist Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey

Edward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...

(1925 - 2000) created 61 new illustrations for the book, which were published posthumously in 2002.