Cautionary Tales begin with the premise that someone, usually a child, displays elements of bad behaviour and comes to a sticky end because of them. In the tradition of Hilaire Belloc, whose tales have amused readers for over a century, poets were invited to create their own horrible brats and devise an appropriate comeuppance. Obnoxious adults were also welcomed.
Imagination poured by the bucketful. Revolting characters with nasty habits got their just deserts, anything from a reprimand to a premature demise. We had new inventions among the characters, and a few old friends, including Macbeth. Most of the entries had the appropriate quota of humour, and there were poems to make the reader laugh aloud
