A lively picture book filled with humorous poems by a variety of new poets does what the subtitle suggests—makes the reader (and listener) laugh out loud. With poems that will remind readers of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, this exuberantly illustrated collection discusses many topics of interest to young children. In “The Human Pickle,” Denise Long amuses with the tale of a young girl called A.K. who loves pickles so much she turned into a pickle. “When her pee turned green / Her folks were unnerved. / She was put in a jar / So that she’d be preserved.” Plays on words and puns add to the fun. In “A New View,” by Jill Esbaum, “Susie dropped her glasses / In the mud beside the brook. / Now everybody Susie meets / Gets a dirty look.” Demarest’s (Bikes for Rent, 2001, etc.) signature ink-and-watercolor illustrations have just the right amount of exuberance and exaggeration to match the poets’ intentions. “Theodore Standitch” is a boy who will eat everything, from “bread and toenail spread” to “A can of Spam, a candied yam.” Demarest draws every single item mentioned in the poem, all stacked up and being dropped into Theodore’s enormous mouth and choppers. Though the book is amended with a few sentences about each of the 24 poems and their creators, only the flap copy mentions that these poems were a result of a contest to “find the best new writers of verse for children.” Little will the child reader care about such adult concerns, though. The deep belly laughs and red-faced embarrassment that come from reading words like “pee” and “belch” will be enough to make this an instant favorite. (Picture book/poetry. 5-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23567-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
This heavily earnest celebration of multi-ethnicity combines full-bleed paintings of smiling children, viewed through a golden haze dancing, playing, planting seedlings, and the like, with a hyperbolic, disconnected text—``Dark as leopard spots, light as sand,/Children buzz with laughter that kisses our land...''— printed in wavy lines. Literal-minded readers may have trouble with the author's premise, that ``Children come in all the colors of the earth and sky and sea'' (green? blue?), and most of the children here, though of diverse and mixed racial ancestry, wear shorts and T-shirts and seem to be about the same age. Hamanaka has chosen a worthy theme, but she develops it without the humor or imagination that animates her Screen of Frogs (1993). (Picture book. 5-7)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-688-11131-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
A little girl is going with her daddy to visit the home of Langston Hughes. She too is a poet who writes about the loves of her life—her mommy and daddy, hip-hop, hopscotch, and double-dutch, but decidedly not kissing games. Langston is her inspiration because his poems make her “dreams run wild.” In simple, joyful verse Perdomo tells of this “Harlem girl” from “Harlem world” whose loving, supportive father tells her she is “Langston’s genius child.” The author’s own admiration for Hughes’s artistry and accomplishments is clearly felt in the voice of this glorious child. Langston’s spirit is a gentle presence throughout the description of his East 127th Street home and his method of composing his poetry sitting by the window. The presentation is stunning. Each section of the poem is part of a two-page spread. Text, in yellow, white, or black, is placed either within the illustrations or in large blocks of color along side them. The last page of text is a compilation of titles of Hughes’s poems printed in shades of gray in a myriad of fonts. Collier’s (Martin’s Big Words, 2001, etc.) brilliantly complex watercolor-and-collage illustrations provide the perfect visual complement to the work. From the glowing vitality of the little girl, to the vivid scenes of jazz-age Harlem, to the compelling portrait of Langston at work, to the reverential peak into Langston’s home, the viewer’s eye is constantly drawn to intriguing bits and pieces while never losing the sense of the whole. In this year of Langston Hughes’s centennial, this work does him great honor. (Poetry. 6-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6744-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
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