Something BIG Has Been Here

by Jack Prelutsky

In this delightful companion to Jack Prelutsky's The New Kid on the Block, an early worm frightens the early bird, four vain and ancient tortoises race to see who can get to the finish line last, and outrageous imaginary characters such as the "Know-Nothing Neebies" ("We're perfectly pompous, / indelibly dense, / we haven't a trace / of a semblance of sense") pop up as magically as any creature from The Phantom Tollbooth or The Wizard of Oz ever did.

In "Captain Conniption," young readers will giggle to meet the self-professed "scourge of the sea." "I'm Captain Conniption, / and up to no good, / you'll soon walk the plank / if I think that you should, / I'd show you right now / how I vanquish a foe, / but I hear my mother, / so I have to go." Other subjects near and dear to children's hearts make fabulous fodder for fun, including sibling rivalry, bad table manners, meatloaf, and bats. Illustrator James Stevenson's lively line drawings capture Prelutsky's goofy poetic antics perfectly, making this collection another essential addition to any child's library. (Ages 4 to 12)

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Picture Books, Humor, Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

Paperback

First published September 8, 1990

About the author

Jack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.

Reviews

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a (mostly) fun and humorous collection of poems!

It loses a star for the one about the goblin dreaming of demons, though...

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this on Audible so I could listen to it on car trips with my children, and I am very happy I did. But I got an unexpected bonus! I figured I'd hear somebody reading the poems out loud, hopefully with some considered intonation here and there to accentuate the wit. What I got was a musical cavalcade of poems! Some of these poems are sung, some spoken with music behind them, but all fun to listen to. This will need to be on repeat in my car - I may just burn it to a CD and leave it on. It's great!

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this when I was a kid and recall enjoying it a lot.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Just Adore Prelutsky for his Wild & Crazy Poems & This Book is No Exception.

[Alexandra Welsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something Big Has Been Here is a anthology of poems in verse by Jack Prelutsky. In the beginning of the book, is poem with the same title as the name of the entire anthology, Something Big Has Been Here. It is about something BIG that left a footprint. The book continues with poems about animals, people, siblings, and poems with silly titles. Each poem from beginning, middle, and end are clever, thought-provoking and relatable.

The age range of this book is nursery through advanced. It even states on the back cover page that the book is for "All Ages." I agree that it can be for all ages because young children and adults can appreciate the word play. There are some vocabulary words that are advanced, like unblemished. Some poems are about siblings, and if you have siblings, you can relate to issues you've had with sisters and/or brothers if you are younger or older.

There are several poetic elements in the poems throughout the anthology. The poems include rhyming, "They tell me I'm peculiar, they seem to think I'm odd, they look at me and grimace, I smile at them and nod." Alliteration- "I am Wunk, a wacky wizard, and I wield a willow wand." Repetition- "I'm sorry I squashed a banana in bed, I'm sorry I bandaged a whole loaf of bread, I'm sorry I pasted prunes to your pants, I'm sorry"... etc. Simile- "The salad tastes like soap." Assonance-"Unflappable Five, we're mustered in formation to climb, to dip, to dive."

I would definitely recommend people to read the book of poems. They are good for reading aloud, for all ages, and easy to understand. Readers or listeners can relate to the topic discussed in the poems, but there is some challenging vocabulary. Pick up this book if you want to laugh!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know how everyone reads those Shel Silverstein books? Well, I decided not to. Poetry is a hard thing to write a review on, but I will try my best....

This is a great poetry book! My absolute favorite poem in this book is, "I Am Digging a Hole in the Ceiling". I love how the boy is trying to dig a hole in the ceiling, which you might think would take a short amount of time (maybe 2-3 days), but he says it will take him until summer.... But at the end you find out why it is taking him so long- he is using a very small spoon.

This poetry book is very amusing. I loved it, and plan on reading more books by Jack Prelutsky in the near future.

I would recommend it to children of all ages.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d say this is comparable to Shel Silverstein for a new generation. I think if I had grown up reading Prelutsky’s work I would’ve loved it more than 3 stars. Here’s my favorite poem:
Don’t yell at me!
Don’t yell at me!
I hate it when you do,
It makes me feel so miserable,
I want to run from you.
I simply cannot stand it
When you scream into my ear,
If I knew how to do it,
I’d completely disappear.

Don’t yell at me!
Don’t yell at me!
I’ll crawl away and hide,
I’ll detonate to smithereens
Or shrivel up inside.
Feel free to thumb your nose at me,
Or wiggle all your toes at me,
Or even ring a bell at me,
But please, please please
DONT YELL AT ME!

[Ms.Gaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently had dinner with a very nice family, including their 2 boys, ages 6 and 10. There was much talk about reading, favorite books,and words. Because my daughter has infected us all with her love of wombos (word combinations) we were also throwing around some of our favorite wombos. The father of the 2 boys is an architect and my husband created a wombo using the word architect along with the father's first name - thus, he became a "Markitect". It only took a minute for the 6-year-old to add, "He practices 'Sharpitecture'." (combo of the words Sharp and architecture)

All this talk of wombos inspired the boys to talk about their favorite books and soon the younger boy ran to his room and grabbed Something BIG Has Been Here. He just had to read "I Wave Good-bye When Butter Flies"...

"I wave good-bye when butter flies
and cheer a boxing match,
I've often watched my pillow fight
I've sewn a cabbage patch"

...and then he looks up at us and says, "Get it?" Oh yes, we nod, smiling as he continues reading the poem to the end.

This book of poetry also contains "The Turkey Shot Out of the Oven", a poem my daughter loved and memorized when she was in the 2nd grade, about 2 decades ago. When we met her for dinner the next day and mentioned this poem, she quickly recited it about halfway through before faltering. And we still laughed, even though we well knew that the turkey was stuffed with popcorn! That's the power of a Prelutsky poem!

Jack Prelutsky's works are classic! This local author should be required reading for all young readers!

[David H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retroactive Review: I'm always going to remember this book fondly--not only is this the same copy I've had since 3rd grade (helpfully labeled by me at that age), it's also the first book I ever read to my son, before and after his birth. Prelutsky and Silverstein have always felt somewhat interchangeable to me, though I'm sure that's heresy to diehard fans of both, but they occupy that same mental and poetic space in my brain. In any case, my son was 2 weeks old when I finished, so his response to my reading was mostly: 😴 or 👀. I'm sure he'll understand it better when he's old enough to read.

[Michelle Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry
No awards given
Book that Dr. Konrad brought to class
Grades K-6: There are a few poems in this collection that I would not particularly share with my classroom but I would have no control if they get it from the library on their own accord.
• All of the poems are mainly free verse with potentially one (My Snake) could be classified as an Invented Form.
• There are multiple literary devices used in the book of poems but the most prominent was alliteration (Rhododendra Rosenbloom, Try Never to Tickle the Twickles, etc.) as well as a good amount of personification (My Fish Can Ride a Bicycle, We’re Fearless Flying Hotdogs, I Wave Good-Bye When Butter Flies). I Wave Good-Bye When Butter Flies is also a poem that is a play on the words consistently with lines like, “ I wonder if the kitchen sinks”.

[Mackenzie Lookingland · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Something Big Has Been Here" by Jack Prelutsky with drawings by James Stevenson is a children's poem book intended for elementary school aged students. This book is full of humorous poems of all different kinds. The actual poem named "Something Big Has Been Here" is about a boy finding a large footprint. He states that he does not know what has been there, but by the size of its footprint, he hopes he never finds out. The author of this book, Jack Prelutsky, uses language that is easy to read for younger readers in elementary school. These are short and funny poems that might get the students who don't particularly enjoy reading to read. This book of poems can be enjoyed by readers of all ages and sexes.

[Lucas F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tjhis book was kinda funny but it is not my favorite poem book I have read yet but there was a funny poem in the beginning.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes poem books. If you like poem books by Jack Prelutsky you. might want to read this book. There was a poem called I am sitting here fishing its where a boy thinks of all the fishes he would like to catch but it turns out he is sitting in a desert.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very fun collection of silly poems great for any elementary age student. Goofy characters including all kinds of animals and people and tons of dialogue mixed in.

In my classroom I could use this to launch a poetry unit. There are lots of great examples of rhyming in several different formats (ABCB, AABB etc). I also shows students that poetry can be about ANYTHING! The abundance of dialogue within the poems lends itself to modeling and practicing good expression.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for my 6 year old that loves poetry for Christmas. It took us two days of read aloud to get through this fun book. I loved Shel Silverstein as a kid, and this book is very reminiscent of his work. I love the vocabulary used and my child loved the giggles it brought.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My four-year-old really wanted to see all the pictures, so this kept his attention better than a lot of other books I read aloud while my kids finish dinner. Over and over, though, he asked why things mentioned in the poems were not in the pictures. This is a fun book with lots of clever word play.

[Nate Hipple · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Jack Prelutsky well enough in small doses. My daughter, on the other hand, is in love with his poems. This volume reads like the others: kind of repetitive, but with some clever ideas sprinkled throughout. Not a bad pick for bedtime readalouds.

[Sagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected it to be funnier. I don't think I am the right reader for this. Someone else might like it better. -- Sagan (6)

[Hannah Klumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could be a way to get students interested in poetry.

[Edy Gies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything by Jack Prelutsky is an absolute delight. The poems are silly and fun, but his word choices make the reader think. HIGHLY recommend!

[Yosmery De La Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yanilsa

[Atlantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of poetry in kin with Shel Silverstein but maybe not quite the same level of rhythm and rhyme. Cute and fun introductory to poetry.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this poetry book. It has a bunch of silly rhyming poems that are really funny to read.

[Cristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

My children thought these poems were hilarious and asked for me to read-aloud over and over again. Not "great" poetry but Poetry to enjoy nonetheless.

[Mo Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories, lots of tongue twisters!

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book there are 100 funny, silly, creative short poems with fun illustrations. They are quite enjoyable for children and adults.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous poems for children. Topics include pets, siblings and robots. A few nonsense poems. And a couple of attempts at Dr. Seuss-like fanciful creatures.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful collection of humorous poems for children. The audiobook sets many of them to music.

[Rachel]

A fun pretty book for kids.

[Carmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet little book for young readers (I mean, for the most part...there were words I had to look up!) but few enough and far between enough that they were not a deterrent.

I loved reading a few poems with my kiddos before bed and chuckling over where our imaginations took us.

Recommended.

[J.R. LaMar · Rating 5 out of 5]

An improvement on the already great “The New Kid on the Block.” “Something BIG Has Been Here” is a book full of adorable children’s poems with perfectly simplistic illustrations for each. The highlights of the book are the poems “An Early Worm Got Out of Bed”, “My Mother Made a Meat Loaf”, “My Brother Built a Robot”, and “Katy Ate a Baked Potato.” The truth is I could name at least ten more that are at least as good.