Three fine and time-honored tales from Lear: ``The New Vestments,'' with its rollicking mob of ``beasticles, birdlings, and boys'' who make short work of the gentleman's farcical attire; ``The Owl and the Pussycat,'' in which the elegant fowl and the beautiful puss take their wedding vows under the bong tree, ministered by a turkey; and ``The Pelican Chorus,'' the bittersweet story of a young pelican who leaves family and home on the banks of the River Nile for the arms of the crane king. There is little unsaid, or unthought, about Lear's smart and layered nonsense verse: When his fancy is on-line, the lark's on the wing, snail on the thorn, and all's well with children's lore. Marcellino's watercolors catch the mood of each piece: bright and riotous, loopily tender, ancient and two-edged, though—a temperamental quibble—he takes the sting out of the third tale by concocting a return of the daughter; it isn't hinted at in the verse and seems to undercut the ambiguity of the story. Lear never stales and Marcellino's luxurious productions add another fanciful dimension to such oddball entertainment. (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-205062-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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