Ulysses - A Brief Nursery Rhyme

Book: Ulysses, by James Joyce

Genre: Children's bedtime story

Themes: rhyming, sailing, birds, bedtime

Comps: Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, Jamberry

Representative quote: "Sinbad the Sailor and Tinbad the Tailor and Jinbad the Jailer and Whinbad the Whaler and Ninbad the Nailer and Finbad the Failer and Binbad the Bailer and Pinbad the Pailer and Minbad the Mailer and Hinbad the Hailer ..."

Page: 607

A venerable work that defies its age, every child should be familiar with the bedtime rhymes of Joyce's Ulysses, rightly one of the classics of the previous century, and likely for many more to come. Bedtime stories are often as flighty and faddish as their intended audience, but Ulysses belongs in a higher echelon, right at the top with Seuss and Boynton, as a timeless classic.

What amazes about this book is how much is loaded into what only amounts to 11 total lines. As economical as he is playful, Joyce packs each sentence with toddler-tickling phrases, such as "Going to dark bed there was a square round Sinbad the Sailor roc's auk's egg in the night of the bed of all the auks of the rocs of Darkinbad the Brightdayler," and "Dinbad the Kailer and Vinbad the Quailer and Linbad the Yailer and Xinbad the Pthailer." Yes, some of these are nonsense words, but when it comes to children, nonsense rarely fails to please.

If there is any sort of flaw--just the slightest hint of blemish--it lies in the confusing name. Why title a book after Greek epic but then pull characters from the Arabian Nights? Both are sailors; both are frequently shipwrecked and lost; both eventually come through richly. The potential parallels are strong, but go unrealized in the text.

I myself was raised on this fine work, as was my father before me and my grandfather before him, and both my children were well steeped in this verse long before they could themselves read. It is my deepest hope that one day I will be able to read the tales of Rinbad the Railer and friends to my grandchildren as well.

Final Rating: 5/5 bookmarks.