Consider the Lemming

by Jeanne Steig, William Steig (Illustrator)

From the award-winning children's book duo, Jeanne and William Steig, comes a wildly wily collection of poetry all about the peculiarities of the animal kingdom!

Consider the lemming:
No hawing or hemming
No dilly or dally
No silly or shally
The whole lemming nation
In one wild migration
Is off to the sea.

In this sly and hilarious collection of illustrated verse about the animal kingdom--from the lemming to the human--critically acclaimed author/illustrator duo Jeanne and William Steig introduce readers to the foibles of all kinds of creatures. And you'll never look at animals quite the same way ever again!

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Animals, Humor

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of animal-themed light verse is not without charm, but is for Steig-completists only, and it seems unlikely that Jeanne Steig's work would've gotten published had it not been for her husband's accompanying illustrations. It's not really a children's book either, although it was published in 1988 by a children's book imprint (I note that humoring the author in this case turned out to be a great business decision, as two years later, the same publisher brought out Shrek!).

So others can judge for themselves about whether they and/or their children would like this, here's a fairly typical entry, "The Snail."

Concerning the snail and his cousin, the slug,
Not much may be said in their favor.
In the matter of looks, one is apt to cry "Ugh!"
Though the snail has a delicate flavor.
Both gastropods keep a tentacular eye
On the lookout for raven or crow
As they slither through life on one foot, which is why
They are, both of them, damnably slow.

There's a charming photo of the husband and wife team on the back jacket flap.

I bought the book because I have a life-long fondness for Steig, and, as so often happens, I didn't want to leave a favorite used bookstore empty handed.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each short poem in this collection focuses on the characteristics of a different animal. The poems provide a humorous take on each animal and are accompanied by different illustration. The book would be appropriate to share as a read aloud with children between three and five years old. Older children may enjoy reading it independently.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute poems about animals.

[Jessica Tonkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry, Preschool-3rd grade

This was a very cute, short, poetry book. Except for the last page where Adam and Eve are almost completely in their birthday suits, I'd say this would be a great poetry book to have in a future classroom. "The Mocking bird" and "The Bull" were my two favorites. This poetry book used a lot of great vocabulary to discuss with students, like abhor, commodius, whetted, prehensile, clamoring, etc. Just about every page had a vocabulary word I could teach to my future students.

[Kristen Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the husband and wife team effort of this collection. The poems are cute and amusing, the diction delightful, and the illustrations generally pair well with the poem content. The rhythm is occasionally off, though, and some of the enjambment just doesn’t work for me. Overall an enjoyable collection of animal poems

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like children's poetry (& poetry of any kind, in general) & I write children's poetry so I'm always looking to read what other authors write. This was a nice book with an animal theme--lots of poems about camels, snakes, snails, even a manticore. Some of them were very clever. I liked it.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

These need to be read aloud. They are short poems about animals and are very well done. In addition, they are illustrated by a well-known artist.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of poetry about animals.

Jeanne Steig certainly knows how to pack the huge words into her poetry. The vocabulary in these is excellent. You're bound to cross vocabulary like ailurophobes, transmogrification and prehensile. So you've been forewarned. Have a dictionary on hand. Like most poetry collections there are some poems I really liked and others I didn't care as much for.

Notes on content: One poem contains a mild swear word variation. Another poem is about Adam and Eve and they are naked, but the illustration leaves all sensitive areas either covered or very vague so it isn't provocative.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining collection of poems about animals collaborated on by a husband-wife team. We've read several books by William Steig, but we recently discovered this book at our local library, along with A Gift from Zeus, both written by his wife.

It's a fairly quick read and we loved that the illustrations really complemented the verse. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

short and very humorous poems

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each page features a different illustration of an animal with a humerous poem that accompanies each trait of said animal. Cute and fun to read aloud.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing not to love about this collection of light poetry, about animals and humans both.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books for "children of all ages." Funny animal poems in the style of the great Ogden Nash.

[Lizzie]

A poetry shelf find in the vein of Just So Stories