The reigning king of iambic “pun”tameter returns with 17 new poems. By compressing words with shared syllables, Prelutsky hybridizes common objects and animals. Kids will delight in meeting “The Eggbeaturkey,” “Shoehornets” and “The Ballpoint Penguins.” The poems, most executed in iambic tetrameter, turn on trademark absurdity: “The TRUMPETOOS and TUBAOONS / Are blaring out discordant tunes. / They play them loud, they play them long, / But most of all, they play them wrong.” Tautly controlling meter and rhyme, Prelutsky brings the roiling fun to a simmer with wry conclusions. (“They march about in close array. / We wish they’d simply march away, / Or stop and take a silent snooze— / Those TUBABOONS and TRUMPETOOS.” Berger’s whimsical collages craftily handle exotica like “The Solitary Spatuloon” and “The Ocelock.” A few poems present challenges. “The Limber Bulboa’s” pun is a stretch for younger gigglers, though redeemed with this surefire couplet: “It has no idea what it’s likely to find / As it lights up its way with its brilliant behind.” Pretty brilliant, indeed. (Poetry. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-054317-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S POETRY
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Hee haw.
36
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The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2018
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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Edward and his father work for the Peabody Hotel in Memphis since the Depression has brought hard times for so many. On weekends they return to their farm in the hills and it’s there Edward finds John Philip Duck, named for the composer whose marches Edward listens to on the radio. Edward has to look after the scrawny duckling during the week, so he risks the ire of the hotel manager by taking John Philip with him. The expected occurs when Mr. Shutt finds the duckling. The blustery manager makes Edward a deal. If Edward can train John Philip to swim in the hotel fountain all day (and lure in more customers), Edward and the duck can stay. After much hard work, John Philip learns to stay put and Edward becomes the first Duck Master at the hotel. This half-imagined story of the first of the famous Peabody Hotel ducks is one of Polacco’s most charming efforts to date. Her signature illustrations are a bit brighter and full of the music of the march. An excellent read aloud for older crowds, but the ever-so-slightly anthropomorphic ducks will come across best shared one-on-one. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-399-24262-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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