Books

My Book of Verse: Poems for Young Readers is a lively collection of children's poetry filled with curious creatures, funny mishaps, familiar faces, and little wonders.

Meet a crocodile riding the subway, a proud peacock, a pigeon who loves to fly, and a dog with a somewhat unfortunate appetite for homework. Discover the adventures of a brave little button, look up at the smiling sun and the mysterious moon, and join in the excitement of Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Hanukkah, and other special occasions.

But not every poem is about mischief. There are quieter poems, too: the comfort of a mother's care, the joy of playing with Dad, and the small, everyday experiences that make childhood memorable.

Written in accessible, playful verse, this collection invites children to laugh, imagine, ask questions, and discover the pleasure of poetry. Whether read aloud at bedtime, shared in a classroom, or explored independently by a budding reader, there's always another poem waiting on the next page.

A book to open anywhere, read together, and return to again and again.

A dead woman arrives at the mortuary hungry.

She would like two hot dogs. She notices that one of the men pushing her trolley hasn’t tied his left shoelace properly. She remembers things at inconvenient times. None of this is useful to the people trying to work out how she died.

They weigh her. Photograph her. Open her up. Test what they find. Call her mother.

There is also a button.

Nobody can explain the button.

CAUSE OF DEATH: LIVING follows one postmortem from receipt of body to cause of death, including everything that makes it into the report, and everything that doesn’t.