As is also true of the title, only a third of this gathering of nonsense will go down easily. The occasional appetizing bits—``When the clown is sick,/he calls his wife/and she butters his head/with her buttery knife''—are lost in a gummy potage of dadaist wordplay and tedious verbal meanderings: ``Bumple snigglefritzers,/Are not really bumple snigglefritzers./They are really schwizzers who want to show off./So they cover their heads with lobular zilchers,'' etc. Rhythm and rhyme are established but seldom sustained, while the untitled verses swim in scribbled illustrations colored with thick, smudged crayon. In the last few pages Spilka's language suddenly becomes conventional, his tone more serious. This is even slighter than his last offering, Monkeys Write Terrible Letters (1994). (Picture book/poetry. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-74522-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1996
Schachner (Willy and May, 1995, etc.) presents Ralph Waldo Emerson and his world through the eyes of his Irish cook (and the author’s ancestor), Annie Burns. Upon arriving in the US, Annie answers an advertisement for “an extraordinary cook” to feed an “acclaimed poet and philosopher who has stopped eating due to an overactive imagination.” When she arrives at the farm, Annie is met by chickens wearing tiny boots (the work of Henry David Thoreau), and realizes she’s in for an unusual experience. The differences between immigrant Annie’s tough, sensible constitution and Emerson’s dreamy, thoughtful disposition are made clear, but not recklessly so: “Once I had a dream. An angel offered me the world in the size and shape of an apple. ‘This thou must eat,’ said the angel, and I ate the world,” Emerson tells Annie, who responds, “The last time I ate an apple, sir, ‘twas merely an apple.” Living on the Emerson farm opens up her creative side, and little by little Annie’s literal take on the world changes. A token from home, reminding her of the fanciful musings of childhood, inspires her to create a dish Emerson will eat. Annie’s transformation is full of poetic imagery and whirling lines; readers will become swept up in this fascinating story of self-discovery that also perfectly captures the great poet’s nature. An informative afterword gives Emerson’s and Annie’s backgrounds. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-525-45884-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1998
A young African-American wriggles and spins around her urban home and neighborhood, celebrating the seasons with her mother and cat. Scattered about the page and almost free of punctuation, the text dances with her, with back-slanted italics deftly marking the change in mood when momma speaks—``jump two/bump two/drag the bag/four flights of steps/tomorrow's garbage day/momma says/here you go baby/you forgot the tuna/put down the tin and click my tongue/night kittens come running....'' Browning's watercolor and mixed-media technique works better on buildings and clothing than on human figures: the girl's daubed, heavily worked skin and slightly clumsy gestures don't capture her high spirits as well as the exuberant compositions and vivid play of blue, green, and orange. A sunny look at inner-city life—now playful, now reflective, but never heavy. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-525-45066-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1993
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