This one doesn't contain any nonsense words, but nevertheless it is one of my favorites:
My hat is old.
My teeth are gold.
I have a bird I like to hold.
My shoe is off.
My foot is cold.
My shoe is off.
My foot is cold.
I have a bird I like to hold.
My hat is old.
My teeth are gold.
And now my story is all told.
(from Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss)
Why do I love that?
In part because it reverses itself, and in the reversing still makes perfect sense. In part because the consonant sounds are soft, and so even with the declarative periods going on there is still a sense of wanting to read further because of that softness.
And in part because it tells an entire story with small details. What else do you need to know about this guy? You get the sketch.
Dr. Seuss isn't just someone you read to a little kid before they go to bed or at a library children's reading hour. He is a poet you read when you want to know how language should fit together, enchant, transform experience ...
...and not make you feel like sobbing into a jumbo popcorn with a bottle of bourbon after, although of course that is always optional and, at times, encouraged!
Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book simply exists in the world without enough superlatives to describe it. This is the poetry that fills your mind at 3 AM (ok, maybe you do have a sleeping toddler in the next room, maybe not, but regardless of the whether or not its deliciousness is neither increased nor diminished. I could go on, but just read it)
Viz.: sheer brilliance, needs no conclusion from me:
At the fork of a road
In the Vale of Va-Vode
Five foot-weary salesmen have laid down their load
All day they've raced round in the heat, at top speeds,
Unsuccessfully trying to sell Zizzer-Zoof Seeds
Which nobody wants because nobody needs.
Tomorrow will come. They'll go back to their chore.
They'll start on the road, Zizzer-Zoofing once more.
But tonight they've forgotten their feet are so sore.
And that's what the wonderful night-time is for.
