[1] The poems are a sardonic critique of Victorian era upper class society.

Illustrated by Belloc's friend from Oxford Basil Temple Blackwood, it is similar in style to The Bad Child's Book of Beasts which had brought Belloc public acclaim and commercial success a decade earlier.

Four of the Cautionary Tales were set to music by Liza Lehmann in 1909;[3] the famous contralto Clara Butt sang the piece in a successful tour of Britain in the same year.

The British actor Stephen Fry recorded a selection of the verses as an audiobook in 1992,[5] and the American artist Edward Gorey created 61 new illustrations for the book, which were published posthumously in 2002.

[6] Pink Floyd writer and singer Syd Barrett used the book as the basis for the lyrics of the song "Matilda Mother", however Barrett was forced to re-write the lyrics as Belloc's estate did not give permission for his poems to be used.