Pigmares: Porcine Poems of the Silver Screen

by Doug Cushman, Doug Cushman (Illustrator)

Overview

When a young pig watches monster movies before bed, he's in for some tail-curling nightmares! From the Phantom Hog of the Opera to the Porker from the Black Lagoon, seventeen poems put a pigmarish spin on creepy classics. Cushman's illustrations evoke retro movie posters with hog-wild humor. A perfect read for young fans of horror, budding movie buffs, and anyone who simply can't stop singing "The Monster Mash"! "Movie Credits" at the end catalogue each poem's inspiration, citing the titles, dates, authors, directors, and stars of the world's scariest stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580894012
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	07/01/2012
Pages:	44
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Doug Cushman has written and/or illustrated more than one hundred books for children, including HALLOWEEN GOODNIGHT, the Dirk Bones series, and the Inspector Hopper series. Doug lives in Paris, France.

Read an Excerpt

Pigmares
 
A thousand-foot pig breathing nuclear fire.
Gurgling gasps from a swamp’s murky mire.
Sharp fangs and red eyes on pale porcine faces.
Dead zombies crawl out from foul-smelling places.
Vampire pigs fly from castles at night;
their silver wings glow in the ghostly moonlight.
An ice-covered monster crawls out of a cave.
A creature made whole out of parts from a grave.
A mummified swine puts a curse on my head –
I should never watch monsters on film before bed!

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Pigmares"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Doug Cushman.
Excerpted by permission of Charlesbridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Cushman pairs pigs with classic movie monsters to create pun-heavy poems, including “Porker from the Black Lagoon” and “Pigzilla.” While unabashedly silly, the poems are also fluid and clever: “Why is the werehog howling?/ Is his pig swill at an end?/ Did he stub his toe upon a rock/ or lose his best pig friend?/ The werehog howls his torment./ He yowls his mournful tune./ The saddest sound you’ll ever hear:/ his oinking at the moon!” The pen-and-ink depictions of comically sinister hogs pair seamlessly with these crowd-pleasing poems. Ages 7–10. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 2–4—These 17 delightful piggy poems will give youngsters more giggles than chills. A small pajama-clad pig who has just gotten home from a scary movie realizes belatedly that "I should never watch monsters on film before bed!" Full-color movie posters accompany the poems that follow. Among them are Frankenswine on an Arctic ice floe, the Mummy Pig awakening from a 3000-year sleep, and the Phantom Hog of the Opera composing his masterpiece, "Pigoletto." Another poster features the Werehog that "yowls his mournful tune./The saddest sound you'll ever hear:/his oinking at the moon!" In a poem for two voices, mild Dr. Hogwell becomes the monstrous Mr. Pigg. True to their porcine natures, the great Pig Kong is a vegetarian, and the vampire piglets of the night are after swill instead of blood. The collection ends with Night of the Living Ham, in which the young pig sees similarities between the zombies of the movie and his parents before their morning coffee. Cushman includes "Movie Credits"-three pages of information about the original films. His colorful cartoon illustrations are done in pen-and-ink and watercolors. Whether read independently or aloud to a group, this collection is a good choice for all libraries. Continue the fun with Arnold Lobel's Book of Pigericks (HarperCollins, 1983).—Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

School Library Journal

Mummy Pigs, Frankenswine and Werehogs…oh my! "A thousand-foot pig breathing nuclear fire. / Gurgling gasps from a swamp's murky mire. / Sharp fangs and red eyes on pale porcine faces. / Dead zombies crawl out from foul-smelling places." Prolific illustrator and occasional scribe Cushman versifies classic movie and literary monsters in 18 single-page poems with accompanying movie-poster–inspired watercolor illustrations starring, of course, pigs rather than people. Plants from outer space (Pigweed), the Yeti (Abominable Snow Pig) and Pig Kong all enjoy the spotlight in turn. All entries are rhymed, though in various schemes, and each has a humorous twist beyond the punny titles. "I ride along the highway, / a demonic, devilish bat. / 'Tisn't just a head I want, / but a place to put my hat," says the swiney spirit in "The Legend of Sleepy Wallow." Several sentences of notes about each poem in the "credits" at the back of the book detail the film or book or scene that inspired the verse and the picture, adding a layer of fun and information that may lead young spook seekers to the source material. Likely to inspire more giggles than gasps; these hammy horrors are sure to please. (Poetry. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews