Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5^-8. Fifty poems of fantasy and nonsense are illustrated with Hawkes' wild, neon-colored acrylics, which pick up the silliness and the fun. Some of the best poems are by Prelutsky himself from his popular collections, and there are rambunctious verses by Karla Kuskin, Dennis Lee, Jane Yolen, Colin West, Florence Parry Heide, John Ciardi, and other well-known children's poets, as well as a few old classics, such as Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky." There are mad contraptions (including "The Hum-Bug Machine") and weird monsters (including the Giraft, the Ollewop ["He's crammed with boys and girls inside" ], and the Snoffle). This is how reading aloud comes very close to play. --Hazel Rochman
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Move over, unicorn, dodo and bigfoothere comes a circusful of imaginary creatures showing off their tricks. Playing ringleader, Prelutsky (A Pizza the Size of the Sun) assembles some 50 poemsgiddy, sly, slightly shivery or just plain silly. Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" is the only obvious selection; there are inspired entries from John Ciardi, Dr. Seuss, Conrad Aiken and others of high rank, and equally arresting selections from less exalted names. Florence Parry Heide eavesdrops on monster mothers bragging about their babies (" `Mine is ugly.'/ `Mine is mean.'/ `Mine is turning/ Nice and green' "); Colin West describes an Ogglewop ("And though he looks quite passive,/ He's crammed with boys and girls inside,/ That's why he is so massive!"). The sheer brio of the language is sure to amuse, and Prelutsky coaxes still more pleasure with his clever pairings and the volume's smooth flow. Equal credit goes to Hawkes (My Little Sister Ate One Hare), whose full-spread gouaches testify to an apparently tireless imagination in visualizing the various chimeras, monsters, etc. His creatures look invitingly madcap, just a tad menacing but mostly full of funcreatures almost guaranteed to raise readers' spirits to full throttle. Ages 5-8. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 5-These outlandish and nonsensical poems bring in a variety of authors, some not often found in anthologies for children, as well as many favorites such as Ogden Nash, Dr. Seuss, and, of course, the compiler himself. In fact, Prelutsky's fans might wonder if this collection didn't start as one for his own private enjoyment...every poem riddles and rhymes its way through the hilarious, the bizarre, and the completely ridiculous in the way that Prelutsky has mastered. Nonsense poetry achieves its illogic by using perfectly logical and patterned language-it plays by the rules in order to break them. Hawkes's richly colored paintings fit the mood: they're funny and exuberant, and exhibit a child's imagination in the renderings of the creatures described; however, a few miss the mark and seem awkward. The creators have squeezed 50 poems into 42 pages; and although Hawkes has done a good job of using the layout to vary, pace, and tie together the selections, the end product feels busy and cramped. Still, this book is a pleasure, and will be a hit.-Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The Flotz, the Subbergump, the Snoffle, the Blomp, the Ookpik, and the Wendigo are a few of the many fantastical creatures featured in fifty poems about imaginary beings and objects. Poets include Dr. Seuss, Ogden Nash, Jane Yolen, and Lewis Carroll as well as less familiar versifiers. Too much text cramps some pages, but whether freakish or merely whimsical, Hawkes's pictures enrich the playfulness and humor. Ind. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
