Paul Muldoon's first poem for children, The Last Thesaurus, was published in 1995 to dazzling reviews. The Noctuary of Narcissus Batt is another wonderful work. Narcissus Batt is up late one night in his Gothic manor house jotting down his night thoughts, which take the form of various beasts who reveal themselves alphabetically. Children will respond intuitively to the liveliness and inventiveness of the language, and to the wonderfully elucidating illustrations by Marketa Prachatika, internationally renowned for her brilliant interpretations of such classics as Alice in Wonderland and James and the Giant Peach.