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Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about Just about Everything
This is the first longer-format, middle-grade collection from #1 New York Times–bestselling author-illustrator Calef Brown. Moving away from the picture book format offers Calef the opportunity to tackle a variety of themes and poetry styles as well as reach a slightly older audience. Hypnotize a Tiger is chock-full of Calef's zany black-and-white artwork and features his wonderfully inventive characters and worlds—from the "completely nonviolent and silent" Lou Gnome to Percival, the impetuous (and none-too-sensible) lad who believes he is invincible, to Hugh Jarm (who has a huge arm, natch!). It's a whimsical creative, fun, and inspiring!
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 17, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
August 7, 2015
Why do I do this to myself? Let me tell you something about how I review. Board books? Pshaw. I can take one and write a nine-paragraph review parsing precisely why it is that Bizzy Bear’s preferred companions are dogs and bunnies. Nonfiction? Lay it on me. I’ll take infinite pleasure in discussing the difference between informational texts when I was a child (long story short, they sucked) and our current golden age. But there is one book genre that lays me flat. Stops me short. Makes it exceedingly difficult for me to get my head in order. Truly, children’s poetry books are the hardest to review. I don’t know exactly why this is. They are the most unloved of the books for kids. No American Library Association accredited awards are made specifically for them. They get checked out of libraries one month a year (April = National Poetry Month) and then lie forgotten. Yet so many of them are bite-sized wallops of greatness. Hypnotize a Tiger by Calef Brown is one of these chosen few. Not many poetry books for kids sport blurbs from Daniel Pinkwater (who found a soul mate in Brown’s art) to Jack Gantos to The Book of Life director Jorge R. Gutierrez. And few author/illustrators are allowed to go as positively wacky and wild as Brown does here. From tomato ultimatums and loofah tortes to velocipede odes and dodgebull (rather than dodgeball) you honestly never know where the book is going next. And you're grateful for it.
So if it’s so great (and it is) why is reviewing a book of this sort the devil to do? There are any number of reasons. When reviewing a book with, say, a plot, it’s awfully easy for me to merely recap the plot, dish on the characters, bring up some single strange or scintillating point, then close it all down with a conclusion. Easy peasy. But poetry’s not really like that. There’s no plot to Hypnotize a Tiger. There’s not even a running gag that keeps cropping up throughout the pages. Each poem is its own little world. As a result, I’m stuck generalizing about the poems as a whole. And because we are dealing with 84-85 (depending on how you count) of them in total, I’m probably going to end up saying something about how some of the poems work and others don’t. This is kind of a cheat when you’re reviewing a collection of this sort because almost no children’s poetry book is absolutely perfect (Example A: The fact that Shel Silverstein wrote “Hug-a-War” . . . I rest my case). They will always consist of some verses that work and others that do not. In the end, the best I can hope for when reviewing poetry is to try to find something that makes it different from all the other poetry books published in a given year. Fortunately for me, Mr. Brown is consistently interesting. As Pinkwater said in his blurb, “He is a bulwark against mediocrity.”
I’m very interested in the question of how to get kids around to reading poetry. My own daughter is four at this time and we’ve found that Shel Silverstein’s poetry books make for good bedtime reading (though she’s still thrown off by the occasional grotesquerie). For many children, Silverstein is the gateway drug. But Calef Brown, though he swims in Shel’s surrealism soaked seas, is a different breed entirely from his predecessor. Where Shel went for the easy silly ideas, Brown layers his ridiculousness with a bit of sophistication. Anyone could write a poem about waking up to find a beehive attached to the underside of their chin. It takes a Calef Brown to go one step further and have the unfortunate soul consider the monetary implications. Or to consider the verbal capabilities of Hoboken-based gnomes. So Hypnotize a Tiger becomes a book meant for the kid with a bit of prior poetry knowledge under their belt. You wouldn’t hand this title to a reluctant reader. You’d give it to the kid who’d already devoured all the Silverstein and Prelutsky and came to you asking, “What else you got?” That kid might be ready.
It is useful to note that you need to read this book aloud as well. There should be a warning sticker on the cover that says as much. Not that Brown makes it easy for you. Take the poem “Hugh”, for example. Short and simple it reads, “Meet my Belgian friend / He lives near Bruges, on a farm. / His name is Hugh Jarm.” Then at the bottom one of the tiny interstitial poems reads, “I once had a dream I was visiting Bruges - / snacking on chocolates while riding a luge.” Now the correct pronunciation of “Bruges” isn’t really necessary in the first poem, though it helps. The little tiny poem, however, is interesting because while it works especially well when you pronounce it correctly, you could probably mangle the wordplay easy peasy and still end up with a successful poem. SLJ probably said it best when they mentioned in their review of the book that, “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.”
The subtitle of the collection is “Poems About Just About Everything” and that’s a fairly accurate representation. It does not mean, however, that there isn’t an internal logic to what’s being included here. There’s a chapter of animal poems, of people, insects, vehicles, schools, food, and then more esoteric descriptions like “Facts Poetic”, “Word Crashes”, and “Miscellaneous Silliness.” No poem directly applies to another, but they still manage to work together in tandem fairly well.
I don’t think it’s a serious criticism of a book to say that it's not for all audiences. Calef Brown is an acquired taste. A taste best suited to the cleverest of the youngsters, absolutely, but acquired just the same. Not everyone is drawn to his style, and more fool they. To my mind, there is room enough in this world for any Calef Brown collection you can name. This book doesn’t have the widely popular feel of, say, a We Go Together but nor is the author writing poems simply to hear himself speak. Hypnotize a Tiger is a book built to please fans of creative curated silliness. Don’t know if you’ll like it? There’s only one way to find out. Pick this puppy up and read it to a kid. The book may surprise you (and so might the kid!).
For ages 9-12.
So if it’s so great (and it is) why is reviewing a book of this sort the devil to do? There are any number of reasons. When reviewing a book with, say, a plot, it’s awfully easy for me to merely recap the plot, dish on the characters, bring up some single strange or scintillating point, then close it all down with a conclusion. Easy peasy. But poetry’s not really like that. There’s no plot to Hypnotize a Tiger. There’s not even a running gag that keeps cropping up throughout the pages. Each poem is its own little world. As a result, I’m stuck generalizing about the poems as a whole. And because we are dealing with 84-85 (depending on how you count) of them in total, I’m probably going to end up saying something about how some of the poems work and others don’t. This is kind of a cheat when you’re reviewing a collection of this sort because almost no children’s poetry book is absolutely perfect (Example A: The fact that Shel Silverstein wrote “Hug-a-War” . . . I rest my case). They will always consist of some verses that work and others that do not. In the end, the best I can hope for when reviewing poetry is to try to find something that makes it different from all the other poetry books published in a given year. Fortunately for me, Mr. Brown is consistently interesting. As Pinkwater said in his blurb, “He is a bulwark against mediocrity.”
I’m very interested in the question of how to get kids around to reading poetry. My own daughter is four at this time and we’ve found that Shel Silverstein’s poetry books make for good bedtime reading (though she’s still thrown off by the occasional grotesquerie). For many children, Silverstein is the gateway drug. But Calef Brown, though he swims in Shel’s surrealism soaked seas, is a different breed entirely from his predecessor. Where Shel went for the easy silly ideas, Brown layers his ridiculousness with a bit of sophistication. Anyone could write a poem about waking up to find a beehive attached to the underside of their chin. It takes a Calef Brown to go one step further and have the unfortunate soul consider the monetary implications. Or to consider the verbal capabilities of Hoboken-based gnomes. So Hypnotize a Tiger becomes a book meant for the kid with a bit of prior poetry knowledge under their belt. You wouldn’t hand this title to a reluctant reader. You’d give it to the kid who’d already devoured all the Silverstein and Prelutsky and came to you asking, “What else you got?” That kid might be ready.
It is useful to note that you need to read this book aloud as well. There should be a warning sticker on the cover that says as much. Not that Brown makes it easy for you. Take the poem “Hugh”, for example. Short and simple it reads, “Meet my Belgian friend / He lives near Bruges, on a farm. / His name is Hugh Jarm.” Then at the bottom one of the tiny interstitial poems reads, “I once had a dream I was visiting Bruges - / snacking on chocolates while riding a luge.” Now the correct pronunciation of “Bruges” isn’t really necessary in the first poem, though it helps. The little tiny poem, however, is interesting because while it works especially well when you pronounce it correctly, you could probably mangle the wordplay easy peasy and still end up with a successful poem. SLJ probably said it best when they mentioned in their review of the book that, “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.”
The subtitle of the collection is “Poems About Just About Everything” and that’s a fairly accurate representation. It does not mean, however, that there isn’t an internal logic to what’s being included here. There’s a chapter of animal poems, of people, insects, vehicles, schools, food, and then more esoteric descriptions like “Facts Poetic”, “Word Crashes”, and “Miscellaneous Silliness.” No poem directly applies to another, but they still manage to work together in tandem fairly well.
I don’t think it’s a serious criticism of a book to say that it's not for all audiences. Calef Brown is an acquired taste. A taste best suited to the cleverest of the youngsters, absolutely, but acquired just the same. Not everyone is drawn to his style, and more fool they. To my mind, there is room enough in this world for any Calef Brown collection you can name. This book doesn’t have the widely popular feel of, say, a We Go Together but nor is the author writing poems simply to hear himself speak. Hypnotize a Tiger is a book built to please fans of creative curated silliness. Don’t know if you’ll like it? There’s only one way to find out. Pick this puppy up and read it to a kid. The book may surprise you (and so might the kid!).
For ages 9-12.
May 12, 2017
Calef Brown considers the vulture:
"Another lunch of dead skunk?
What a stink!
I need to rethink my future,"
thought the vulture.
Slant rhyme and funky phrasing fill this collection of short poems about animals, friends, vehicles or whatever crosses this whimsical and witty author's mind. Calef Brown is our new Shel Silverstein, strangely funny and unmistakably original, interspersing his odd observations with sky-blue illustrations and quirky refrains and commentaries from other oddball characters who stick their heads up below each poem. If you think children's poetry was done with "Where the Sidewalk Ends," you have to try Calef Brown. This guy is brilliant!
"A normal dinner would feel so nice.
Grilled asparagus and wild rice
without the wretched carrion.
Something vegetarian."
"Another lunch of dead skunk?
What a stink!
I need to rethink my future,"
thought the vulture.
Slant rhyme and funky phrasing fill this collection of short poems about animals, friends, vehicles or whatever crosses this whimsical and witty author's mind. Calef Brown is our new Shel Silverstein, strangely funny and unmistakably original, interspersing his odd observations with sky-blue illustrations and quirky refrains and commentaries from other oddball characters who stick their heads up below each poem. If you think children's poetry was done with "Where the Sidewalk Ends," you have to try Calef Brown. This guy is brilliant!
"A normal dinner would feel so nice.
Grilled asparagus and wild rice
without the wretched carrion.
Something vegetarian."
March 22, 2016
In his book that does, as the title claims, include “poems about just about everything,” Calef Brown charms readers with his imaginative and humorous writing style. The poems in this anthology are categorized into 9 sections. Children will enjoy seeing animals in a new light reading poems in the section titled, “The Critterverse,” and will later enjoy poems about bugs in “The Insect Section.” In “Word Crashes,” Brown uses portmanteau words to create hilariously vivid imagery.
This book is full of short poems that readers in grades 2-5 would appreciate on several levels. Fluent readers will appreciate the wit Brown uses in his poems, and those new to or hesitant to read poetry won’t be overwhelmed, and will likely be able to connect with and appreciate at least a handful of the poems in the book. English Language Learners or struggling readers may have difficulty with some of the vocabulary words or literary elements used, such as portmanteaus, but those very elements and words may be studied as part of a unit on literary style, vocabulary choice, and students may ultimately gain a better understanding of the language and how poetry uses it. The book is filled with supporting whimsical illustrations in black and blue against the white paper background. Children are bound to find enjoyment in this book of clever poetry. A poetic Q & A section in the back with Calef Brown offers readers with insight into the life of the author and illustrator, including his preferred fashion choices and his retirement plans.
This book is full of short poems that readers in grades 2-5 would appreciate on several levels. Fluent readers will appreciate the wit Brown uses in his poems, and those new to or hesitant to read poetry won’t be overwhelmed, and will likely be able to connect with and appreciate at least a handful of the poems in the book. English Language Learners or struggling readers may have difficulty with some of the vocabulary words or literary elements used, such as portmanteaus, but those very elements and words may be studied as part of a unit on literary style, vocabulary choice, and students may ultimately gain a better understanding of the language and how poetry uses it. The book is filled with supporting whimsical illustrations in black and blue against the white paper background. Children are bound to find enjoyment in this book of clever poetry. A poetic Q & A section in the back with Calef Brown offers readers with insight into the life of the author and illustrator, including his preferred fashion choices and his retirement plans.
March 28, 2015
In five days a month long celebration held every April since 1996 begins. It's a tribute to the power of words, worked in every imaginable form, evoking a plethora of emotion from readers, speakers and listeners. It's heart with a focus on the art of linking letters. It's National Poetry Month.
All around the world authors of verse (and illustrators too) will find their work in the spotlight. On March 17, 2015 a new title by author and illustrator, Calef Brown, was released. Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about just about Everything (Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Henry Holt And Company) will have you toe tapping, giggling and grinning and reading aloud, even if there is no crowd but only your patient pooch pal. Chapter headings, The Critterverse, My Peeps, The Insect Section, Poems Of A Particular Vehicular Nature, Schoolishness, Facts Poetic, Word Crashes, Good (And No So Good) Eats and Miscellaneous Silliness, containing poems numbering eight-four offer something for everyone.
My full recommendation: http://bit.ly/1HZZAhg
All around the world authors of verse (and illustrators too) will find their work in the spotlight. On March 17, 2015 a new title by author and illustrator, Calef Brown, was released. Hypnotize a Tiger: Poems about just about Everything (Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Henry Holt And Company) will have you toe tapping, giggling and grinning and reading aloud, even if there is no crowd but only your patient pooch pal. Chapter headings, The Critterverse, My Peeps, The Insect Section, Poems Of A Particular Vehicular Nature, Schoolishness, Facts Poetic, Word Crashes, Good (And No So Good) Eats and Miscellaneous Silliness, containing poems numbering eight-four offer something for everyone.
My full recommendation: http://bit.ly/1HZZAhg
October 25, 2015
Do you think poetry is all about pretty words and serious topics? Do you prefer books that make you laugh? Are Shel Silverstein's books the only poetry you'll reliably read? (Do you also love puns?) Well, I may have found a new poetry book (and another poet) for you. Hypnotize a Tiger by Calef Brown not only covers wacky and silly topics with rhymes, puns, and more rhymes, but the way the words roll off the tongue is too fun not to read outloud:
Tomato Demand
The teachers
and students
in every grade
were very afraid
of chef Alfredo's
stuffed tomatoes,
but everyone ate 'em.
He made a tomato ultimatum. (p.65)
So read these poems outloud. Read them to your friends and family. See who can rattle them off the fastest. And then do what Calef Brown asks of the reader at the very end of the book: "and write your own poems / about just about anything, / or everything, / or nothing at all. / Heed the call!" (p. 138).
This made me want to read more Calef Brown and to booktalk more poetry books. I requested this from the library, but I honestly can't remember why exactly. I probably read a good review of it. I love the rhythm of all of these poems; it gets stuck in your brain. End rhyme, internal rhyme, puns galore, mixing with meter. But seriously, I will now be handing Calef Brown's books to anyone who wants something like Shel Silverstein - they're not exactly the same, but I think they have appeal in common.
I would recommend this book to grades 4-8, especially those who like funny, crazy, weird poetry or wordplay. This is great for those who like Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, even Dr. Seuss.
Tomato Demand
The teachers
and students
in every grade
were very afraid
of chef Alfredo's
stuffed tomatoes,
but everyone ate 'em.
He made a tomato ultimatum. (p.65)
So read these poems outloud. Read them to your friends and family. See who can rattle them off the fastest. And then do what Calef Brown asks of the reader at the very end of the book: "and write your own poems / about just about anything, / or everything, / or nothing at all. / Heed the call!" (p. 138).
This made me want to read more Calef Brown and to booktalk more poetry books. I requested this from the library, but I honestly can't remember why exactly. I probably read a good review of it. I love the rhythm of all of these poems; it gets stuck in your brain. End rhyme, internal rhyme, puns galore, mixing with meter. But seriously, I will now be handing Calef Brown's books to anyone who wants something like Shel Silverstein - they're not exactly the same, but I think they have appeal in common.
I would recommend this book to grades 4-8, especially those who like funny, crazy, weird poetry or wordplay. This is great for those who like Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, even Dr. Seuss.
November 25, 2016
I'm apparently way in the minority on this one.
I really hated it.
I love poetry. Even silly poetry. I'm a big fan of Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, but I do not understand the appeal of this book.
The poems were beyond ridiculous. They sounded like they were written by one of my fifth graders who trying desperately to make something rhyme so any old word will do.
I didn't like the little side comments or the illustrations. I don't like side comments as a rule. I hate being distracted from the actual writing. I know he put them in there to be amusing, but I was not amused.
This was probably my favorite poem:
UFOS
If you have foes
in UFOs,
you'd better watch the skies,
Angry martians popping by-
not a nice surprise.
If you have pals
from outer space,
that could be a plus.
Instant rides to anywhere
surely beat the bus.
I don't know. Maybe kids will like it. My students won't have the chance because I refuse to put it in my library.
I really hated it.
I love poetry. Even silly poetry. I'm a big fan of Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, but I do not understand the appeal of this book.
The poems were beyond ridiculous. They sounded like they were written by one of my fifth graders who trying desperately to make something rhyme so any old word will do.
I didn't like the little side comments or the illustrations. I don't like side comments as a rule. I hate being distracted from the actual writing. I know he put them in there to be amusing, but I was not amused.
This was probably my favorite poem:
UFOS
If you have foes
in UFOs,
you'd better watch the skies,
Angry martians popping by-
not a nice surprise.
If you have pals
from outer space,
that could be a plus.
Instant rides to anywhere
surely beat the bus.
I don't know. Maybe kids will like it. My students won't have the chance because I refuse to put it in my library.
October 6, 2015
Geared toward middle grades I believe, this was ridiculous. In a good way. Good for the kid who started off on Silverstein, and is looking for something to come after Prelutsky. Also the kid who loves the way words go together. The illustrations are wonderful, as are the little footnotes on some pages.
February 22, 2015
We love Calef Brown in my classroom! Quirky and funny poems that we have read multiple times. And always, how we love the art!
August 7, 2015
How I love Calef Brown. An amazing poetry book with delightful and unique illustrations. A wonderful addition to a classroom or personal bookshelf.
August 11, 2016
This book makes me so, so happy every time I pick it up! Funny, clever, silly, brilliant.
December 19, 2020
Great for middle elementary readers, this anthology of wacky poems by a single author will keep kids thoroughly entertained as they dive into Calef’s poetic world of hilarious creatures, inventions, and situations. Full of figurative language and sound elements like metaphors, onomatopoeias, rhythmic lines, and plenty of rhymes, these poems are great for reading aloud. Fun plays on words include falafel induced falls off bicycles, tubadours (“tuba-playing troubadours”), and camera wielding Kodakokiak bears. The simple illustrations of black lines and blue shading add to the whimsy by helping readers visualize the creations the words introduce, such as a skyscraper rocket, pigeon frogs, and a shopper cherubic. The subject matter of many of the poems is relatable to elementary readers, especially the section on “schoolishness” that discusses bullies, gym teachers, and snow days.
October 28, 2017
Summary
Hypnotize a Tiger is a collection of silly, whimsical, and zany poems for children. From “The Critterverse” to “Poems of a Particular Vehicular Nature”, you can find poems about just about everything.
Evaluation
This book is so cute! The illustrations are adorable, and make the poems come to life. There are a variety of poems that would be engaging for students aged 8-12. This book shows students that poetry can be entertaining. I would definitely buy a copy of this book to keep in my classroom.
Teacher Recommendation
This book could be used to introduce students to different genres of books. I rarely see students reading poetry because they think that it is boring. However, this book would be interesting for them and broaden their perspective on poetry.
Hypnotize a Tiger is a collection of silly, whimsical, and zany poems for children. From “The Critterverse” to “Poems of a Particular Vehicular Nature”, you can find poems about just about everything.
Evaluation
This book is so cute! The illustrations are adorable, and make the poems come to life. There are a variety of poems that would be engaging for students aged 8-12. This book shows students that poetry can be entertaining. I would definitely buy a copy of this book to keep in my classroom.
Teacher Recommendation
This book could be used to introduce students to different genres of books. I rarely see students reading poetry because they think that it is boring. However, this book would be interesting for them and broaden their perspective on poetry.
June 20, 2017
This book is meant only for those who like to laugh and smile and who love the sound of words as they roll off your tongue. Calef Brown has a way of making a dull subject fun. His poems are zany and catchy. Just as the title says, there are poems about just about everything in this book. At the end there is even a section called "Q & A With Calef Brown". Here you can get to know the author, but don't expect it to be your usual question and answer. This is a very fun book. If I were as clever as Calef I would have written this review in poetry form. I think even the younger student would enjoy these poems read aloud to them.
January 3, 2018
This thing was a warm delight during a very cold New Year's week. The poems were cute, charming, with lots of chutzpah. The illustrations were delightful, delicious, de-lovely. Loved it ...a lot.
"Who can trap a Ninja with a gingersnap? / Or hypnotize a tiger with a finger tap?....Who can catch a comet with a simple paper sack? / Or perforate a freighter with an ordinary tack?....See what I mean...b/c "How about a clue? Is it me, or is it you?" I say it's both of us, Friend. And reading this delightful book of poems helped in my joy-quest. 140 beautifully illustrated pages.
"Who can trap a Ninja with a gingersnap? / Or hypnotize a tiger with a finger tap?....Who can catch a comet with a simple paper sack? / Or perforate a freighter with an ordinary tack?....See what I mean...b/c "How about a clue? Is it me, or is it you?" I say it's both of us, Friend. And reading this delightful book of poems helped in my joy-quest. 140 beautifully illustrated pages.
April 28, 2019
The subtitle of Hypnotize a Tiger says it best POEMS about just about Everything. No matter your interest there is probably at least one poem that is in that area. Some of these poems are just gross enough to appeal to middle schoolers but not gross enough to turn off the adults. If you are looking for some new poetry to share with your older elementary or middle school students, you need to check out Hypnotize a Tiger by Calef Brown. His illustrations are simple sketches in blues and black. He seems to know his audience and what appeals to the age-group.
April 18, 2019
The art and text are traditionally pure Calef Brown. They are logical in their abstractness. The poems deal with everything from skateboarding, insects, gnomes, geese, bullies, snacks, being car sick, absurd flying skyscrapers as rockets, a realistic poem about a trucker name Wayne and possessed gym teachers that make their students play dodge bull. Broken up into sections, you will find at least one poem you will enjoy. The Q&A at the end has its own Brown twist to it.
April 24, 2019
Calef Brown presents readers with a whimsical wacky world of poetry in this quirky collection. The rhymes are clever and so are the concepts of these poems. Brown may well be the king of assonance, as well. (Every time I use that word with students they gasp in horror.) The poems are fun, the illustrations are comical, and the rhyming asides add another layer of delight. A good addition to poetry collections.
March 15, 2021
I enjoyed this! I’m vaguely familiar with Callefs work such as “flamingo on the roof” and “boy wonders” and I will say that it is a bit of an acquired taste. That being said I think it is a taste that many should learn to acquire, his poems have such an elegance to them and I find them very enjoyable. His use and incorporation of illustrations and color schemes I find very intriguing, especially to the minds of youngster.
November 3, 2023
I always wanted to be the kind of person who liked poetry.
This may be for children, but I loved it. It is full of verve, and it makes you glad to be alive. Except the portmanteau section, which I struggled with.
This may be for kids, but not for very young ones. My five-year old enjoyed me reading the poems to her, but she was confused by all of them. Sometimes delighted, but confused.
The illustrations are delightful, as to be expected from a RISD professor.
This may be for children, but I loved it. It is full of verve, and it makes you glad to be alive. Except the portmanteau section, which I struggled with.
This may be for kids, but not for very young ones. My five-year old enjoyed me reading the poems to her, but she was confused by all of them. Sometimes delighted, but confused.
The illustrations are delightful, as to be expected from a RISD professor.
June 12, 2017
This poetry genre driven book is Calef's way of slightly stepping away from illustrations and focusing on the context throughout this book. With multiple characters, such as animals and truck drivers, this chapter, poetry book brings in different settings and themes in order to interest various readers between 3rd and 7th grade.
March 17, 2018
This is a funny poetry book, reminds me of similar poems in the series, Where the sidewalk ends. The poems written in rhyming style and are funny. I liked the poems because they are silly for children. Calef Brown picks a characters to make sense out of them. I love the artwork, the black and white pictures with a touch of blue shadows. The book is very fun and creative!
July 7, 2018
Brown's illustrations are PERFECT accompaniments ti his imaginative verse. I'd aware 10 stars if I could. I've given this books as a gift to an adult (who's an accomplished poet himself) and to the home-schooled youngsters across the street. Everybody loves it.
April 8, 2019
These fun and creative stories of a tiger are something most children will appreciate. these poems are comical and most of which inspire children to think outside of the box with open ended questions, what more can you ask from a book? These poems are great and al children will probably love them.
January 9, 2018
A funky poem book that pokes fun at all sorts of topics. early elementary.
January 13, 2019
My son brought it home from the school library. It was cute enough that I wanted to read it too. Quirky and enjoyable.
July 5, 2020
I love poetry, especially poetry written for kid audiences, but couldn't find any poem in this book that connected to my sense of wonder or humor. This book wasn't for me, but others may enjoy it.
Read
December 6, 2021Short poems, Humor
October 4, 2022
Lots of fun in these poems. Short. Easily readable. Engaging. Lots of absurd stuff which is great for kids.
March 17, 2020
I loved this book because I am a big fan of reading poetry books. The poems are funny but are short enough for younger children to read and enjoy them as well. While I had read these poems, I had thought of many different lesson and activities that I could incorporate into lessons while using this cute and creative book.
April 19, 2015
A fun and zany collection of silly poems along with simple black and white illustrations which are just as fun, this collection of poetry is sure to please. There is plenty of wordplay and puns to delight old and young alike. The poems would also work well for read-alouds though there are a few which don't quite flow as nicely but still there is plenty here to amuse. Its very helpful to show children poetry can be fun and not always difficult, serious or even worse, boring. Recommended for both school and public libraries for upper elementary as well as middle-school aged readers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews