Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called her Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.
–Ogden Nash

Strictly speaking, Ogden Nash did not write for children. Strictly speaking, Ogden Nash should not be read by children, at least not without parental supervision, but, the truth is, he was a very witty poet, and some of his stuff should not be missed. A lot of it, btw, is either so silly or so gross, children will love it.

A dear family friend (Yes, HMF, I mean you) introduced me to “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” so long ago, I don’t remember it clearly. For that matter, I’m betting SHE doesn’t remember it clearly, if at all.

But the poem’s been stuck in my brain for years, decades, eons – since dirt, really – and I cannot resist the temptation to share a bit of it here.

And yeah, Ogden Nash is also the guy who actually wrote Peas & Honey.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.