HE PARKED ON A CLOUD OF A COLORFUL SORT. (2)

      

                                                                 Grace Lawrence

        “The Balloon Man” and many other delightful poems were published in 1992 in an activity book called Rhyme Time, based on the poetry of my mother, Ernestine Cobern Beyer.  Unfortunately, the editors chose to shrink the full-page illustrations, much to artist Grace Lawrence’s distress and mine. Why did they do this?  Because they wanted to make room for inserting exercises of their own devising, headed by titles like Thoughtful Questions and Drawing Fun, and they didn't want to copy the successful format of Rhyme Time's predecessor, Poetry with a Purpose. Result? The book was a flop.

     Those two editors are doubtless long gone, but if they weren't, and I could get my hands on them and their Drawing Fun,  I'd have no option but to shake them until their teeth fell out.