Supposing...

You discovered a wonderful remainder book on the bookstore bargain table...only slightly dog-eared.  You were curious as the cat on the cover of an open book and curiouser about the title Supposing...
It's a picture book by poet Alastair Reid originally published in 1960 and reissued by the New York Review Children's Collection.  Seriously...check out from the library any of the books from this collection.  They're all good.  I also have Ounce Dice Trice by Alastair Reid...another wonderful treat for the imagination...and probably deserves a separate blog posting.  After picking up Supposing..., I read portions aloud to customers and co-workers...and they all wanted a copy...but I got the last one!  I wish I had written these.

Here are three samples...

Supposing
I had a great house with valuable paintings
and furniture and things and I came
home one day and it was all blazing
and burned down and people came
rushing up to me being sorry for me
but I just laughed and took off my
clothes and threw them onto the fire...

Supposing
I had a picture of the view from my window
and painted the river orange just for fun, and
when I went out the next morning the river had
really turned orange...

Supposing
I had a twin brother but we never told
anyone and only went to school half the
time each...

These are lots of fun with perfectly complemented illustrations by Bob Gill. 
You'll want to come up with your own supposings and drawings.

Denis Streeter   8/1/13