Forty-seven short poems—most lighthearted but a few serious (and one or two downright silly), and some previously published in England—with lots of mouth-filling words (not always in the dictionary: ``dumbledor''), whimsical names (Mr. Marrumpeter, Uncle Fazackerly, Lady Belinda Fox-Gore), and sing-songy rhythms. Subjects range from weather and animals to scary places and local eccentrics. There are a few memorable conceits—a nude statue that climbs down from her pedestal and goes for an ice cream (``The waiter wondered: could she be/A film star in disguise?''); kitchen utensils that bewilder their owner when they don't get themselves back in place after their midnight revels; an incontinent young cloud who annoys his mother because he has to rain so often. Not destined to become classics, but kids who like Milne's poems may like these, too. Jaunty pen-and-ink illustrations. Index. (Poetry. 5-10)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-385-30620-2
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1992
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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