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Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories
Georgie Spider catches flies but never eats the little guys. Instead he cooks them up in pies. He doesn't use the legs or eyes or any artificial dyes . . . Not far from a greenish town, the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies, while overhead on Highwire 66 there's a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Ed's funny smell, Eliza's special jacket - they're all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, fourteen stories about pesky snails, sleeping fruit, and one funky snowman. In the tradition of Edward Lear, Calef Brown has fashioned fourteen nonsense poems so zany that both young and old will be unable to suppress their laughter. Brown's invented words and sounds and their visual counterparts create both an audible and a visual feast. This is the kind of silliness children relish.
32 pages, Paperback
First published March 30, 1998
3 people are currently reading
168 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
April 11, 2015
Ahhhh! This book is too wonderful for words!
There are polka bats dropping polka-turds!
There's Ed with cherries on his head!
And skeleton flowers that glow for hours!
14 poems most wacky, and pictures most . . . untacky
There are polka bats dropping polka-turds!
There's Ed with cherries on his head!
And skeleton flowers that glow for hours!
14 poems most wacky, and pictures most . . . untacky
July 27, 2009
polka-turds!
January 14, 2008
Kansas City Octopus
is wearing fancy slacks.
Bell-bottom,
just got 'em,
fifty bucks including tax.
Red corduroy,
and boy-o-boy,
they fit like apple pie.
Multi-pocket snazzy trousers
custom made for octopi.
Fantastic plastic stretch elastic
keeps 'em nice and tight.
Kansas City Octopus
is looking good tonight!
is wearing fancy slacks.
Bell-bottom,
just got 'em,
fifty bucks including tax.
Red corduroy,
and boy-o-boy,
they fit like apple pie.
Multi-pocket snazzy trousers
custom made for octopi.
Fantastic plastic stretch elastic
keeps 'em nice and tight.
Kansas City Octopus
is looking good tonight!
October 8, 2016
A birthday present from 1999, unread despite the delightful title, til now. Silly - maybe just not working for me right now. One star for polka-bats (with polka turds) and one for the lonely, fear filled, desert dwelling surfer.
April 20, 2024
Super cute, my daughter loved it!
February 5, 2008
When I need something light, I often pick up a "children's book." This is how I stumbled upon this book (after reading The Road). It's a quick read (5 minutes if that) and meant for 4-8 year olds supposedly. It's full of silly, rhyming, brief poems about an octopus wearing $50 bellbottoms and a traffic jam on a tightrope.
The poems actually I would rate about 3 stars; they don't reach the level of Dr Seuss/Shel Silverstein in my opinion (though I think kids 4-8 years old would likely rate the poems higher). But I think the accompanying interesting illustrations (esp their choice of colors) merit an additional star. I'll have to test this book on my 7-year-old niece to see how it goes.
The poems actually I would rate about 3 stars; they don't reach the level of Dr Seuss/Shel Silverstein in my opinion (though I think kids 4-8 years old would likely rate the poems higher). But I think the accompanying interesting illustrations (esp their choice of colors) merit an additional star. I'll have to test this book on my 7-year-old niece to see how it goes.
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April 25, 2011Wow I am in love with this poem book and everything else that Calef Brown has written. The illustrations are hilarious and amazing and the poetry is great fun! I definitely plan on using this book during a poetry unit in my own classroom no matter what the age and plan to use it to encourage creative and crazy pieces from the kids.
July 25, 2007
Hillarious. "Polkabats" is my favorite poem - it mentions jury duty, Stroganoff, and poka-turds all in one poem! I love reading books to the kids that are also entertaining to me. I'm a fan of his illustrations.
September 12, 2009
I picked up this book from a review at dooce.com. It's a little old for Owen, he misses a lot of the humor. He loves it all the same, and the art is amazing. I can see us checking this out again when he's 5, and rolling on the floor together over the polkabat turds. Kick it, funky snowman!
March 23, 2010
Calef Brown’s children's books are truly one-of-kind experiences. Part Dr. Seuss, part Shel Silverstein, and all his original folk-art creations. Not for the close-minded, and for those who except and love that which is sometimes called "weird."
April 3, 2011
A popular bedtime selection. When Danny went through his snowman phase in December, he often said the ones he drew were "Funky" snowmen. Mom's favorite is Octopus Slacks - Kansas City Octopus is looking GOOD tonight!
April 1, 2009
Love this book (and I still go to npr.org to hear Scott Simon's and Daniel Pinkwater's review of it). A great book of short (seemingly nonsensical to adults) poems for kids.
August 31, 2009
I am so in love with this book I can't stand it. It might be the illustrations, or just the shear whimsy that this makes everyone feel when it is read out loud.
October 14, 2009
awesome children's book. reads like slam poetry. crazy post-modern art with a very subtle macabre tinge.
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October 23, 2025Not far from a greenish town, the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies, while overhead on Highwire 66 there’s a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Ed’s funny smell, Eliza’s special jacket—they’re all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, fourteen stories about pesky snails, sleeping fruit, and one funky snowman.
October 8, 2019
This was the best book of my kids childhood! One is 24, and the twins are 21, yet they can recite "Funky Snowman" from memory still. There is something so fun about the cadence and the silly stories. We had so much fun with these poems. Please, stories are important, but so is poetry... even the silly kind.
June 14, 2021
This are perhaps some of the silliest, most surreal, and funny poems. Full of seeming non-sequiturs and convenient rhymes and a wonderful, lyrical cadence. We had to return it to the library but I'm thinking of buying it because many of these would be wonderful to read again and again... and perhaps to commit to memory.
Fun for children and adults. The bat guano poem is the best!
Fun for children and adults. The bat guano poem is the best!
January 10, 2025
Not exactly 14 stories, this book is more like 14 poems. Some are stacks of limericks; some are more free verse, but all are well-proportioned and fun to read aloud. The subject matter was pretty ridiculous and occasionally distasteful, and I don't have fond feelings for the illustrations. But the writing. Excellent.
June 12, 2025
Wow. I absolutely adore this book?
My favorite is the funky snowman… the poems are all so charming that they actually made me laugh out loud while glancing through them at the library book sale. Just for that, I decided to buy it!
Excellent purchase.
My favorite is the funky snowman… the poems are all so charming that they actually made me laugh out loud while glancing through them at the library book sale. Just for that, I decided to buy it!
Excellent purchase.
November 13, 2018
Add this to your list of silly poem books like Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein. My 5 year old loves it.
November 14, 2019
Vivid words in surprising combinations that are fun to say. Goofy illustrations suit the poems well.
April 3, 2021
Nonsensical poems. Cute. Reminds me a bit of Shel Silverstein.
November 16, 2021
Clever and cute!
July 30, 2022
polka-bats!! i love the art and i could stare at it for so long.
January 16, 2024
Best book ever
July 18, 2017
This a great book of funny nonsensical poems with great illustrations.
January 12, 2022
My only complaint is that its not longer. I want to read these fantastic poems for days.
April 2, 2025
This is a collection of 14 short, illustrated nonsense poems. Example titles: Funky Snowman; The Bathtub Driver; The Lonely Surfer.
February 27, 2017
No Awards.
I would say this is a good Poetry book from Kindergarten- 3rd grade.
It has a 14 poems each with a different theme. Some of the poems rhyme and some do not. Some of them have a Rhythm to them while others a little less so.
I like all the different poems. I felt like there were some that were funny and fun to play with. They had a good rhythm to them and were well worth the read.
I would use this book to have a fun poem of the week. I would use only one of the 14 poems, and spread them out through the year.
You could use his poem about the guy that likes red by having students find red objects in the room. They could connect to the text that way.
It could also be used to help teach rhyming words. Take on of his poems and find all the rhyming words in it.
I would say this is a good Poetry book from Kindergarten- 3rd grade.
It has a 14 poems each with a different theme. Some of the poems rhyme and some do not. Some of them have a Rhythm to them while others a little less so.
I like all the different poems. I felt like there were some that were funny and fun to play with. They had a good rhythm to them and were well worth the read.
I would use this book to have a fun poem of the week. I would use only one of the 14 poems, and spread them out through the year.
You could use his poem about the guy that likes red by having students find red objects in the room. They could connect to the text that way.
It could also be used to help teach rhyming words. Take on of his poems and find all the rhyming words in it.
February 1, 2018
A cute little book that I wished more libraries had.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews