Florian continues his poetic examination of the seasons with this collection exploring different aspects of fall. He plays with both the concept of autumn and with the language commonly used to describe the season with lots of puns on fall/falling and poems with humorous titles such as “Hi-bear-nation” and “Naughtumn.” Some instances of poetic license will need interpretation for children by an adult: “Autumnescent,” “Tree-tice,” and “Symmetree,” while clever in concept, will not be readily understood without a mature reader’s perspective on the wordplay. The 48 rhyming poems include explorations of traditional fall symbols and experiences such as pumpkins, migrating birds in flight, and changes in fall leaf colors and weather. There is nothing traditional about Florian’s poetic style, however, and his crisp, colorful poems continue to surprise and delight the reader. His distinctive illustrations using watercolors and colored pencils complement the poems well, with a pair of tumbling children on the cover shown against a glowing golden leaf. (Poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-009278-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-525-47172-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
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