Review by Booklist Review
Brown is a master of nonsense rhyme, yet there's actually an amusing logic to the 50-plus poems that comprise this anthology. Divided into sections on people, food, sleep, animals, and oddments, the poems, accompanied by Brown's stylized, naive acrylic-and-gouache paintings, describe silly, albeit occasionally relatable, topics. It makes a certain kind of sense that the Seafood 'n' Candy Café would serve oyster brittle and calamari caramel, that in Simile Park the trees are like steeples, / the rivers like glass, and that neighborhood dogs might be curfewed if there were a cur feud. Although all the poems rhyme, the rhythms vary, making one verse sound like a limerick, another like rap; and some may sound uneven to experienced listeners. Certain poems will resonate with any audience, but others like Sleepstealer about a kleptosomnambulist will garner more chuckles from older readers. Yet there's no denying that clever wordplay makes all the poems entertaining. From the introduction to the concluding writing advice and author's note, Brown never lets up on the rhyming fun.--Angela Leeper Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Brown (Soup for Breakfast, rev. 3/09; Hypnotize a Tiger, rev. 3/15) presents poems categorized by subject ("People Are People"; "Foodstuffs"; "Sleepy Time"), and bracketed by poetry about poetry: "Rules are less crucial than trains of thought. / Following tracks. Making connections. / Stopping off at intersections." Even the appended writing prompts are written in verse: "Choose an object to anthropomorphize / something inert you can humanize." Brown's poetry here is mostly free-flowing, though still full of clever rhymes ("I'd like to tell you something. / I hope you can handle this: / I'm a Sleepstealer. / A Kleptosomnambulist") and wordplay ("All the neighborhood dogs / have been curfewed / due to an ongoing cur feud"). His signature color-saturated acrylic-and-gouache paintings are as absurd as ever, but with the added realistic element of a diverse human cast. Some of the poems come with messages ("It may not be gorgeous, / my family tree, / but I love all the leaves- / they look perfect to me"), but for the most part the collection sends the message that language is there for creative play. Hand this to readers with active imaginations, particularly if they're writers themselves. Shoshana Flax November/December 2019 p.103(c) Copyright 2019. 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Fifty-odd (with and without the hyphen) new poems from a nabob of nonsense, with appropriate artplay to go with the wordplay."NASA has a bakery. / A spaceship in disguise. / Everybody talks about its meteoric ryes." In between an "Intro" and an "Outro" promoting the notion that nonsense is serious business and offering pointers for readers eager to get started creating their own, Brown arranges examples cast in a variety of meters and rhyme schemes. The tone varies too, as along with clever own-sake exercises in language and lexicography (from "Borscht": "This poem is the worscht. / The rhymes are forscht") are verses on family ties and friendships, a "New Technique" for getting to sleep when sheep-counting palls, fretting over "Stingy" behavior, and ruminations on dust "Motes" passing in and out of sunbeams. The last is delivered by a woman in hijab, and throughout the naively stylized illustrations, human figures are likewise cast with an evident eye to diversityeven if bodies are sometimes those of insects and skin comes in gray or green as well as more likely hues. Birds surrounding the title poem carry banners welcoming all poetry readers and writers in inclusive terms: "Not of a feather' / But we flock together / Forever united / All are invited!"Readers who take silliness seriously are well-advised to "sit back and sample this humble compendium. / Begin in the middle or go back from the endium." (Picture book/poetry. 5-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
