The Works of Comus

When Ballantyne wrote young children's books, he used the pseudonym "Comus." His best known children's book is The Three Little Kittens. While Ballantyne didn't actually write the well known poem, he incorporated a story around the anonymously-written piece, and also illustrated the book.

Ballantyne normally utilized animals as the main characters in his children's books such as The Kitten Pilgrims, The Robber Kitten, and My Doggie and I. The Kitten Pilgrims is a humorous adaptation of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress in which two kittens and a dog go on a journey and must fight horrible monsters such as the Worm Sloth, Peacock Pride, and Octopus Untruth.

The Kitten Pilgrims

It's fascinating to see the high level of vocabulary which young children formerly possessed during the Victorian era. The Kitten Pilgrims in particular is full of words such as "malignant", "elasticity", and "convolvulus." Being unfamiliar with this last word, I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it speaks of any flower in the morning glory family. Imagine coming across "convolvulus" in a children's book today!

Tutela ex Vulnero,

John