Review by Booklist Review
Silliness abounds in Brown's latest collection of nonsense poems, each paired with a cartoonish illustration that hints at the meaning. First up are animals ( Another lunch of dead skunk? / What a stink! / I need to rethink my future,' / thought the vulture); followed by odd people, such as Lady Calderhat (She wears the most amazing bonnet / purple, with a mobile on it); then insects (Just because we're pupae, / people give us the poop-eye); and a whole host of other chuckle-worthy topics. The section titled Word Crashes, possibly the most successful of the bunch, features cleverly jammed together words, such as Onenourmoustork and Tenderipersimmons, which are a treat to pick apart. As with any collection, there are some stumbles: occasionally the rhythm of the lines is a bit sloppy, and some poems mean very little outside the context of the paired illustrations. Nonetheless, Brown makes great use of wordplay, and the staccato syllables make the poems fun to read aloud. Little ones who enjoy funny verse will be tickled by this title.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brown writes and illustrates playfully matter-of-fact poems that feature peculiar animals, creatures, and humans, drawn with chalky outlines and expressive eyes. Categories of poems include "The Critterverse," "Schoolishness," and "Word Crashes," a section featuring nouveau portmanteau words ("This Grouchyoungorilla/ hasn't gotten very far./ Some thoughtless thug/ has just unplugged/ his nicelectricar"). Beneath the framed central images, Brown doesn't let the bottom edge of the pages go to waste, filling them with mini-scenes and jokes connected to the poems above. Full of absurdity and off-kilter musings ("I think I need a forklift/ to lift my backpack./ So many textbooks/ in my knapsack,/ I fear a back-snap"), Brown's collection offers a zingy introduction to the silly side of poetry. Ages 8-12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-This collection delivers a smorgasbord of Brown's trademark nonsensical poems. Broken into sections by theme such as "The Critterverse," "Schoolishness," and "Word Crashes," the selections depict an offbeat world where dinosaurs barbecue "titanic taters" and ghoulish gym teachers make kids play "dodgebull... with actual cattle." The poems bounce and jump from one topic to the next with sometimes satirical, always silly, word play running along the page bottoms. Brown's stylized, folk artsy illustrations evoke just the right mood for the zany verse. Though there is more than one line that does not roll easily off the tongue and awkward rhymes abound, it is easy to see this clumsiness as part of the spirit of the collection. From the poems themselves to the illustrations to the tongue-in-cheek interview with Brown at the book's close, it's clear that this is a collection that doesn't take itself too seriously. For libraries seeking something silly, especially where Brown's poems are already a hit.-Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Montclair, NJ (c) Copyright 2015. 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
This collection ends with an invitation to write your own poetry, but actually the whole book is such an invitation. Brown takes several conventions -- such as the celebration of the outlier (the girl who won't say the word berry: "Huckles and strawbs / I gobble in gobs. / For stuffing it's crans that I use"), weird animals (pigeon frogs; the underwaterutabaga), and complaints about school (the day the gym teachers turn into vampires) -- and gives them fresh energy. He even infuses the yucky-foods trope with original twists (the Loofah Torte is particularly startling). A Greek chorus much given to puns is located along the bottom margin, where creatures comment on the poems and add their own. Brown is a superb craftsman, with jazzy rhythms that get your whole body moving and a gift for embedded rhymes: "Very shy, and extremely rare, / the Massachusetts Camera Bear / stays aware of the local area / through landscape photography." A footnote clarifies, "Also known as the Kodakodiak bear." Jolie laide black-and-white drawings add to the jauntiness and the welcoming, joyous mood. Lear for our times. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2015. 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
More nonsense verse from inveterate punster/illustrator Brown.Fun knows no bounds in this collection of over 80 zany poems and accompanying mixed-media illustrations, topped off by the author's Q-and-A written almost entirely in verse. Younger children will enjoy poring over Brown's detailed, silly drawings of animals, insects and imagined objects and hearing the tight, surprising end rhymes that bind many of the poems (a delightful pairing of "speedometer" with "vomiter" in the poem "Carsick" comes to mind). Middle-grade readers will likely revel in the sophisticated wordplay Brown employs to depict the humorous perspectives offered throughout, particularly those of less-savory creatures. A vulture laments, "This is my diet? / If it died, I try it?" Soon-to-be butterflies complain, "Just because we're pupae, / people give us the poop-eye." And then there's the ho-hum fate of lice: "I would hate to be a louse / always feeling lousy, / even when overjoyed / or pleasantly drowsy." Successful, too, are moments where poem and illustration work hand in hand to pun, as in the poem "Hugh""Meet my Belgian friend. / He lives near Bruges, on a farm. / His name is Hugh Jarm"illustrated with farmer Hugh waving one giant arm in greeting. With verse and illustrations running the gamut from creative to kooky and occasionally gross, kids should devour this entertaining collection in one sitting. (Poetry. 6-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
