Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4-6, younger for reading aloud. Here's a new treat for the multitudes who devoured Prelutsky and Stevenson's The New Kid on the Block [BKL O 1 84] and asked for more. Prelutsky's bountiful collection of witty poems make the urge to quote irresistible: "Something big has been here, / what it was, I do not know / for I did not see it coming / and I did not see it go, / but I hope I never meet it, / if I do, I'm in a fix, / for it left behind its footprints, / they are size nine-fifty-six." On the same page, an ink drawing washed with gray shows a small boy, seen from above, treading warily between the toes of an ominous footprint. Prelutsky adopts a child's perspective to a remarkable degree--technically through his frequent use of the first person, but more fundamentally through his unerring sense of kids' concerns and their humor. Spacious and pleasing in design, the book devotes a page or two to each poem, which is accompanied by one or more illustrations. Fresh and funny as the verse, Stevenson's art seems brighter in black and white than many artists' full-color work. With his usual wry humor, he makes improbable situations seem not just possible, but inevitable. Good for reading aloud in homes and classrooms, this will be a popular addition to library poetry shelves, though it will not sit there long. --Carolyn Phelan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
If this anthology of light verse and black-and-white drawings from Prelutsky and Stevenson were a movie, it would be titled The New Kid on the Block Part II. In format, subject matter and tone, fans of the earlier volumes will rejoice in finding more of the same. These are not poems to savor for their metaphoric language or depth of thought, but are instead frivolous, rib-tickling verses about the ``Ghost Who's Lost His Boo,'' about ``Rhododendra Rosenbloom'' who buys perfume from a ``ten scent store,'' or about the ``Fearless Flying Hotdogs'' who are ``mustered in formation / to climb, to dip, to dive.'' Prelutsky's comic monologues focus on such topics as ``I am Tired of Being Little'' or ``I'm Sorry! for being a brat,'' or the irresistible declaration of love, ``Warteena Weere Just Bit My Ear.'' From Twickles and Moodles to the making of Grasshopper Gumbo, the emphasis is on the preposterous. Stevenson's waggish drawings provide half the fun in this comic collection that skips lightly on the mind and tongue. Ages 5-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
From the intriguing title poem to the final verse, ``We're Fearless Flying Hotdogs,'' Prelutsky has done it again with childwise sparkling wit. Zaniness is in abundant supply with verses about a turkey that shot out of the oven (it was stuffed with unpopped popcorn); Denson Dumm, who planted lightbulbs in his hair (and thereafter was always bright); and the child who wants a pet porcupine. But also present in delightful numbers are serious subjects of importance to children, wrapped in silliness: ``I Am Tired of Being Little,'' ``Don't Yell at Me!,'' and ``I Should Have Stayed in Bed Today.'' Prelutsky's language is neither simple nor sappy, but rich with challenging words such as ``disputatious'' and ``alacrity,'' whose meanings are clear in context. The poems are short and snappy (many are only one or two stanzas), and Stevenson's accompanying uncomplicated and comical drawings give the book an uncluttered appeal. A winner for individual or group reading. --Lee Bock Pulaski, Brown County Pub . Libraries, Green Bay, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
For those complaining of boredom, a brief plunge into Prelutsky's newest collection of verse should provide at least a temporary cure. The author's joyous sense of the absurd and the rich resources of his zany imagination propel the reader from page to page, and Stevenson's small cartoons extend the mad humor of the poems. Index. From HORN BOOK 1990, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A wealth of funny new verse from a favorite poet. Prelutsky's comic muse is at its best here--whether describing a homemade robot gone berserk ("". . .it ate the dust pan/and attacked us with the broom,/it pulled apart our pillows,/it disheveled both our beds. . ."") or a whimsical trip to yesterday (""I'm moving very fast/as I'm putting off the future/for the rather recent past. . .""), he uses unexpected, vivid words in infectiously rhythmic cadences. Amusing details abound--in a long list of the many fish a boy is not catching, or in a tall-tale adventure ""that's the reason why my homework/isn't here with me today."" Many of the entries end with a nifty surprise or a deft comical twist. Stevenson, who also illustrated Prelutsky's The New Kid on the Block (1984), contributes quietly hilarious b&w art. Another winner from this talented pair. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
