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The Jumblies

A nonsense poem retold from Edward Lear

Edward Lear was an English artist and writer who loved to make people laugh with silly words and playful rhymes. He wrote 'The Jumblies' in the nineteenth century, and it has been making children giggle ever since. The Jumblies are cheerful little creatures with green heads and blue hands who do something everyone says is impossible — and prove that a bit of nonsense and a lot of courage can take you anywhere. This reader shortens the poem and retells it in prose so young listeners can follow the story, while keeping Lear's silliest images and his most famous lines. This text reflects its era.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 391 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Nonsense Books, Edward Lear

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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