“The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

Written by the author that himself provides escapist excitement for both children and adults in his famous Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This poem is simply an amazing homage to the power of books and it's influence on children and our imagination. No doubt it is even more enjoyable because of the nostalgia it inspires to our own child years where we would escape into the world of literature with a determination and belief in the extraordinary we so often forget as we grow older.

The Land of Story-Books
       by Robert Louis Stevenson

At evening when the lamp is lit,
Around the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun, I crawl
All in the dark along the wall,
And follow round the forest track
Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy,
All in my hunter's camp I lie,
And play at books that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods,
These are my starry solitudes;
And there the river by whose brink
The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away
As if in firelit camp they lay,
And I, like to an Indian scout,
Around their party prowled about.

So when my nurse comes in for me,
Home I return across the sea,
And go to bed with backward looks
At my dear land of Story-books.