Here's Alison: The World Book
Alison Ross writes a poem about a family which tried to work their way to a fortune by selling encyclopaedias.
Most folk catch the measles
At some time in their life
But his daughter caught the World Book
And gave it to his wife.
His two sons too were not immune
They fell in fast succession
And not to be the odd man out
He joined the darn procession.
His son-in-law and nephew
Both had the fever rough
They all of them sold World Book
From North Cape to the Bluff.
The symptoms they were crazy
They stayed out late at night
They never saw each other
Till the morning light.
They went along to conferences
And all of them said WOW!
They raved about the World Book
And its Where and Why and How.
But gradually the fever
Relaxed its vicious hold
And one by one his family came
Returning to the fold.
And now they're all immune for life
And as they lay there in their cot
They think about the money made
And how expenses took the lot.
So never more will World Book
Strike his family down
But still they'll tell the neighbours
It's the very best in town.
They'll even get a soapbox
And shout out to the media
You cannot raise your children folks
Without World Book 'cylopedia!
