Creature Carnival

by Marilyn Singer, Gris Grimly (Illustrator)

This collection of twenty-six poems features some of the creepiest, funniest, most bizarre, and fascinating creatures from myth, legend, and popular culture. Marilyn Singer has written more than sixty books for children and young adults, including Monster Museum, the companion book to Creature Carnival. She and her husband divide their time between Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, Connecticut. Gris Grimly made his picture book debut with Monster Museum. Since then he has illustrated Pinocchio and his own Wicked Nursery Rhymes. Gris Grimly lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books, Childrens, Halloween, Juvenile

40 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marilyn Singer and Gris Grimly, the author/illustrator team responsible for Monster Museum , return in this second collection of poems devoted to the unusual and monstrous creatures of the world. Twenty-three poems introduce creepy creatures of all kinds, from the slimy Frog Prince to the biblical Behemoth and Leviathon, all on offer as part of the titular "carnival," through which a group of children are being shepherded.

An enjoyably creepy collection, Creature Carnival would make an excellent follow-up, for those readers who enjoyed this author/artist team's previous foray into this field, or for those looking for Halloween-appropriate reading. I wouldn't say the poems especially dazzled me (as mentioned in my review of Monster Museum , I prefer the work of Adam Rex, in this regard), but I did think they were lots of fun. Gris Grimly's artwork was as appealing as ever, in a suitably grim kind of way. All in all: a solid title for those looking for some gross and gruesome, in their poetry reading diet.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The poems are okay. I love Grimly’s illustrations. I like the brief explanations of the creatures at the end of the book.

[Judith (Judith'sChoiceReads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Summary

This collection of twenty-six poems features some of the creepiest, funniest, most bizarre, and fascinating creatures from myth, legend, and popular culture. Marilyn Singer has written more than sixty books for children and young adults, including Monster Museum, the companion book to Creature Carnival. She and her husband divide their time between Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, Connecticut. Gris Grimly made his picture book debut with Monster Museum. Since then he has illustrated Pinocchio and his own Wicked Nursery Rhymes. Gris Grimly lives in Los Angeles, CA.

The Skinny

Creature Carnival is a lovely, albeit wacky take on some age-old myths, legends, and all around crazy folk lore. The book delighted me probably more so because I wasn't expecting it. The rhymes are at times clever and funny, and the book itself engaging enough for its intended audience; I read this in front of my younger brother and we had a blast! Some of the monsters in the Creature Carnival are a bit strange though, be warned, and others look as if they were put through the ringer a.k.a. Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She, as do many others, embody a slightly more jaded edge than their classical personas, and part of why I took out this book in the first place was its unconventional twist, so the concept worked well for me.

I got a sense of juvenile Tim Burton with the illustration in general as the images had a jagged quality and trademark through the looking glass-feel that Burton's work usually embodies. Overall, this is a fun and lively book for anyone in need of a quick read.

3/5 stars

**This review features on my blog, Choice Reads as well, drop by :)

[Shacoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another book that was illustrated by Gris Grimly. As usual, the pictures were great. They were creepy while also maintaining a comedic element. This book centers around a bunch of different creatures, like gargoyles and tricksters. Some of the rhymes in this book are strange and don't flow very well. Otherwise, it is a pretty interesting book.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh the art work isn’t really my thing but the poems were fun and cute. I only have one problem where was the Easter Bunny? According to the list of creatures the Easter Bunny was in there some where but I did not find him. Went through the pages twice. Otherwise not bad.
Recommend? Sure
Buy/Borrow? Borrow

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Artwork: 5 stars
Rhymes: 2 stars

Mixture of classical monsters from ancient mythology, to medieval monsters, to folklore to scifi stories (The Fly?). I did love the three-eyed crow/raven that appeared throughout the book but was saddened by no mention about the 20th/21st century fear of mutants created by nuclear radiation.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of rhyming fun with mythical and scary screaters. Everything brom Beauty's beast to gargoyles, and sphinxes. This was a great read and Grimly’s illustrations were the icing on this literary cake.

[Katie Rodante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most badass children's book I own.

[Lindsay Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the artwork! Very Tim Burtonesque!

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

POETRY- Creature Carnival is a nice themed poetry anthology with beautiful yet haunting illustrations that would be great for upper elementary students. Each of the 26 poems focuses on a different character from myths, legends, fables, and pop culture. With varying rhyme schemes and character focus, each poem lends itself to a different class discussion. The "Featured Creatures" glossary at the back is a nice touch as reference for both students and teachers alike.

Students could use this book in younger grades as a great read a loud to focus on descriptive language and rhyme. Older students could use these poems as connections to the characters the poems are alluding to as well as word choice and rhyme. Students can then be asked to write their own poems using these as models as they introduce their own characters to the Creature Carnival .

[Ariel]

I have to admit, as far as Gris Grimly's books go, I do like this one quite a bit. This book honestly just screams Creature Feature (The Band) to me, and having Gris as the illustrator pretty much made this book perfect. I did feel like this book was more of a song book then "Sipping Spiders Through a Straw" was, or at least that's how I read it. Most of the stories and words rhymed together so perfectly that you could read it as a song book. I would definitely pick this book as a one for kids on Halloween.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry themed for a creature carnival, a concept sure to capture the imagination of children (and I just had a lot of fun unintentionally using all those letter "c"s) and a fun choice for Halloween time. Would also be a good book to use in a class and have them write poetry around a theme. I especially liked the "Featured Creatures" glossary in the back. The same illustrator from the witty ABC picturebook, The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman.

[Shelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creature Carnival is another fantastic collaboration between Marilyn Singer and illustrator extraordinar Gris Grimly. Dare to enter the Creature Carnival and learn about twenty-six of the most bizarre creatures from mythology, fairytales, fables, and cinema. The impressive vocabulary, creative poetry and fact filled afterward are all stellar.

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are the best part of this book. The illustrations are funny and colorful. They are exciting to look at and are very detailed. While the pictures in the poetry book were wonderful, the poems were alright. some of them were very funny and some of them I just didn't enjoy as much. Overall, it was a good book of poetry though.

[MC Bonet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. In places the rhymes fell short for me, but most where very clever. I specially liked the monster facts at the end of the book. It is definitively not for everyone. Your child (and you) must enjoy this type of art. I would not categorize it as grotesque, but it is definitively not pink and flowery, like other picture books.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems didn't thrill me, though I appreciate the inclusion of so many fairy tale and mythological beasts.

As always, Gris Grimly's artwork earns an A+++++++++++++++++++++++

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many allusions to characters throughout literature and mythology make this collection of poems a true gem. Combining them with Gris Grimly's illustrations makes this a must-read for all slightly-warped bibliophiles.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED the illustrations! I must read more books illustrated by Mr. Grimly (great name!).

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy the poems as much as the pictures. They were okay, but some were boring. On the other hand the pictures were amazing!

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was kind of disgusting.

[Jaimie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Grimly's illustrations are always entertaining, but I tire of Singer's forced and awkward rhymes. Clearly she should stop trying for a perfect rhyme, since she clearly can't quite get it.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little above my son's head. But we enjoyed it.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such fun!!!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5