Dennis Lee (born August 31, 1939) is a Canadian children's writer and poet who lives in Toronto, Ontario. He has a bachelors and masters degree in English from the University of Toronto. While a serious poet he is best known for his children's writings. His best known work is, perhaps, Alligator Pie. He also wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the show Fraggle Rock. In 1986 he was award the Vicky Metcalf Award. In 1967 Lee was among those who found House of Anansi Press and Lee was its first editor for its first five years, helping build Anansi into the acclaimed publisher of poetry and literature that it is today. He is criticial of meodern society and education for working to restrict imagination, arguing that children are rooted in a colonial mentality.
An example of his poetry:
William Lyon Mackenzie King
Sat in a corner and played with string,
Loved his mother like anything,
William Lyon Mackenzie King.
Works:
- Kingdom of Absence - 1967
- Wiggle to the Laundromat - 1970
- Civil Elegies and Other Poems - 1972 (winner of the (1972 Governor General's Award for Poetry)
- Alligator Pie - 1974
- Nicholas Knock and Other People - 1974
- Garbage Delight - 1977
- Savage Fields - 1977
- The Ordinary Bath - 1979
- The GOds - 1979
- Jelly Belly - 1983
- Lizzy's Lion - 1984
- The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets - 1987
- The Ice Cream Store - 1991
- Riffs - 1993
- Body Music - 1998
- Bubblegum Delicious - 2000
- The Cat and the Wizard - 2001