A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems

by Vikram Madan Narrated by Vikram Madan

Overview

Warning:
This book has
¿ dragons
¿ robot uncles
¿ aliens
¿ a combative mosquito
and, most dangerous of all, more than 13.8 billion poems. You may never stop reading!
With clever rhymes, eclectic wordplay, and inventive characters, Vikram Madan has created a quirky, hilarious collection for readers of all ages. Open A Hatful of Dragons if you dare-but only if you're prepared to laugh.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Texas Bluebonnet Book Award Master List 2021-2022
South Dakota Prairie Bloom Book Award Finalist 2022-2023
A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year 2021
A New York Public Library Best Books for Kids 2020
A Denver Public Library Best and Brightest Poetry Book of 2020
An Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids 2020
School Library Journal's Fuse #8 Blog - 2020 Best Poetry Books
School Library Journal's Fuse #8 Blog - 2020 Funniest Books of the Year
American Library Association ALSC Summer Reading Pick 2021
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book

★"A loopily meta collection of silly, interactive poetry. Madan’s collection of rhymed verse lives up to its subtitle thanks to a poem with 12 numbered blanks and 12 lists of seven words or phrases each to insert, mix-and-match style, in those blanks…that equals seven-to-the-12th-power possible poems! You do the math. There is a 'cracked-concrete' poem (some of the words have fallen to the bottom of the page), a rebus chant composed entirely of pictures of Australian animals, and some poems in comic strips. The cast appears to be of many races and species. This collection will encourage several giggle-filled read-throughs." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

​“Silly wordplays, letters all over the place, fill-in-the-blanks, and funky pictures make this poetry collection a delight!" — The New York Public Library's Best Books 2020 Committee

“For kids who have not yet found poetry that speaks to them, try this gleeful tour of various poetic forms, accompanied by silly cartoon illustrations... A HATFUL OF DRAGONS lets readers know that poetry can be seriously fun through rollicking rhymes and hybrid comic book styling." — The Denver Public Library's Best and Brightest Books Committee

​“Hilarity abounds in this wild and wacky conglomeration of unique (and goofy) poems! Expect 13.8 billion laughs!” — The Evanston (IL) Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids 2020 Committee
​
​“What a delightful surprise! These poems are fantastic! So inventive and funny... hand this to your Silverstein/Prelutsky fans" — Betsy Bird, School Library Journal Fuse 8 Blog (2020 Poetry Books List, 2020 Funniest Books List)

​"Hilarious, great illustrations, and a BRILLIANT use of surprising page turns!" — Josh Funk, Author of the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series

​“A HATFUL of DRAGONS is a fun, rhythmic, and sometimes interactive collection of illustrated poems, many of which beg to be read aloud. .. a nice complement to the classic, illustrated, poetry of Silverstein, Prelutsky, and Dahl.” — Richie Partington, Richie's Picks

“A fun, fresh poetry book to use with your students or kids... the book is filled with rhyming poems... poetry styles ... sophisticated language ... figurative language... with humor, zany adventures, this book will surely be a hit with any poet!" — StoryMamas Book Reviews

​​“Vikram Madan's collection of poems is deliciously daft... it's pretty near impossible to pick favorites ... it's just the kind of book that even those who claim not to like poetry might well change their minds after hearing a couple from Vikram Madan's' gloriously gigglesome gallimaufry” — Red Reading Hub

“The word that best describes this book rhymes with ‘bilarious.’” — Adam Rex, author-artist of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich
 
“With rigorous rhythm and rollicking rhyme, Vikram Madan's A Hatful of Dragons delivers a vatful of laughs!” — Douglas Florian, author-artist of Friends and Foes: Poems About Us All

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-02-26
A loopily meta collection of silly, interactive poetry.

Madan’s collection of rhymed verse lives up to its subtitle thanks to a poem with 12 numbered blanks and 12 lists of seven words or phrases each to insert, mix-and-match style, in those blanks…that equals seven-to-the-12th-power possible poems! You do the math. (All 13 billion rhyme.) The fun starts in the illustrations even before the poetry does, with characters that recur throughout the book. A mummy pops up on the copyright page, for instance, and is then seen running in the distance in one illustration and watching a movie in another before finally showing up in its own poem: “Mummy wrapped in / Hoary cloths— / Scrumptious feast for / Hungry moths.” On the page with the table of contents, a bespectacled, bearded white man peers out of a rock and keeps peeping in but doesn’t introduce himself until the end, when he is revealed to be “Professor Dobbleydook, / Inventor of the Page Machine, / Which lets me travel through this book / To spy on any page or scene.” The interrelations continue, as does the foolishness. There is a “cracked-concrete” poem (some of the words have fallen to the bottom of the page), a rebus chant composed entirely of pictures of Australian animals, and some poems in comic strips. The cast appears to be of many races and species.

This collection will encourage several giggle-filled read-throughs. (Poetry. 5-10)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160049557
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	08/22/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

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