Familiar yet inventive, exuberant and silly, this consistently fresh assortment of light verse and expressive cartoons lives up to the haute goofiness of the best Prelutsky/Stevenson work (The New Kid on the Block ). This collection of more than a hundred poems includes Prelutsky's distinctive mixture of real and fictitious animals, outlandish pets, wistfully subversive students and anti-establishment characters. There are enough verses about burping and homework to satisfy the usual suspects, but they'll also stick around to find their imaginations jump-started. Wordplay and nonsense include the alliterative items on Sandwich Sam's menu ("beetle beet banana blubber, chigger cheese chinchilla chalk") and the incomparable pun in the poem "Today It's Pouring Pythons," in which the ballgame is called "anaconda rain." Humor and whimsy abound, and Stevenson's clever art extends the comedy, but never overshadows the text. He somehow makes elephants look "extremely graceful,/ light and limber on their feet" in "I'm Dancing with My Elephants," and he can make eccentricity plausible, as when a father and son engage in their traditional July 4 buttering of their noses in "My Family's Unconventional." Like the words in the poem "Some Chickens," the pairings in this volume are "pure poultry in motion." Ages 5-up. (Mar.)

K-Gr 5

In this delightful collection of poetry (Greenwillow, 2008) by the country's first-ever poet laureate for children, Jack Prelutsky, all the zany rhymes, alliteration, and exuberant silliness have been set to toe-tapping music played on a variety of instruments and performed by the author. With more than 100 poems sung by Prelutsky as well as original songs written and performed by the author, listeners will want to hear these silly selections again and again. Make sure to have the book available so listeners can enjoy James Stevenson's amusing illustrations.-Amy Joslyn, Fairport Public Library, NY

Two grand masters team up to produce a decidedly goofy illustrated poetry anthology. Prelutsky, who must surely dream in iambs, so plentifully do they fall from his pen, offers some 100 plus poems on subjects varying from pets to imaginary beasties. He's totally cued in to childish solipsism: Just about half of the poems begin with "I" or "my." Stevenson's quick pen-and-ink vignettes appear equally effortless, lumpy elephants and hapless children staring benignly from the page. Some of the poems, in form or in wordplay, are unquestionably inspired. "The Call of the Longwinded Clumsy Owl" consists of one word-"WHOOPS"-rendered with enough intervening Os to occupy the whole page; "When the Butcher Was Delivered" asks readers to consider the punny possibilities in otherwise unrelated words. Still, one must wonder if the book would pack more of a punch if it were about half as long. Too many of the poems consist of rhyming couplets in lockstep rhythms that dwell on mild sillinesses, resulting in an uneven collection in which the only-pretty-good overwhelms the truly-great. (Poetry. 5-10)

Jack Prelutsky, the nation’s first children’s poet laureate, returns with another collection of poems set to music. Listeners are introduced to a world that includes the magical—you’ll meet homework-burning dragons and griffins—and the everyday—“I accidentally scared a skunk/a hornet stung my head/I’m sleeping in the bottom bunk/my bunkmate wets the bed.” On display is a deeply creative imagination. Prelutsky’s love of rhyme, funny story, and wordplay are once again vividly apparent. The fun, original music of these cheerful pieces provides a bright backdrop for Prelutsky’s humorous rhymes, which he presents in a pleasant, upbeat voice. The poet’s ability to reach across the parent/child humor divide, cleverly entertaining both, will be much appreciated. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine