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A Chat With Dennis Lee

© Paula E. Kirman

There aren't many children in Canada who are not familiar with the whimsical rhyme of Dennis Lee. His best-known collection of zany and fun poems is Alligator Pie, first published in 1974 and continues to be a children's classic, having sold half a million copies.

Lee, who hails from Toronto, certainly knows what children love to read. He makes up words and rhymes that are original and memorable. This is probably why he wrote many of the song lyrics for the mid-80's Jim Henson television series Fraggle Rock.

But on the other side of the coin, Lee is an accomplished literary editor. He co-founded the House of Anansi Press in 1967, a publishing house which published work from then-new writers such as Michael Ondaatje and Margaret Atwood. Most recently, Dennis Lee was named the Poet Laureate of Toronto, the first ever in the city's history.

Dennis Lee's latest work is another book of poetry for children, entitled The Cat and the Wizard. Beautifully illustrated by Canadian artist Gillian Johnson, the poem tells a story about two lonely misfits who become friends. I spoke to Dennis Lee over lunch about his colourful career in children's literature.

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Paula: What do you feel are some of the most important aspects to bear in mind when writing poetry for children?

Dennis: Well, I guess the very first thing is: don't condescend. Also there's amongst some people there is a conviction apparently that writing for children is what you do if you can't really write for grownups, if you can't cut the mustard as an adult novelist or poet you settle for second best and do the same thing at a child's level or juvenile level, and that's obviously crap. Writing well for kids is a different thing than writing well for adults, but it is just as demanding in its won way. Another one of the fallacies is the conviction that some people involved with children's books, not just writers but at least a minority of librarians, teachers, reviewers, that desire to believe that it's a world where everything is rosy and sunny and the only things that are appropriate are sweet and lovely. For myself, I love things that are very gentle and very tender and full of awe and friendship; I love it when those things are well-realized, but clearly, childhood can be a very hard place to be and a very cruel place at time, and I don't see any reason to try and pretend that isn't the truth. So, sometimes you get this edge of treacly sweet and soppy stuff coming in which kids don't have much time for, but there's at least a minority of adults who would like to believe that that's what has to be there in children's stuff. Those are some of the pitfalls.

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