Laugh-eteria: Poems and Drawings

by Douglas Florian

This book is bound
To pick you up.
To give a little lift.
If you take half
A change you'll laugh.
We know you won't be miffed.
So find a home
Inside a poem.
Take off your shoes and sit
And if you smile
Once in a while,
We won't mind it one bit!

"Sure to draw fans of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky . . . [These poems] provoke laughter while playfully manipulating language to capture the comical essence of things and events in a child's world."--School of Library Journal

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Childrens, Picture Books

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ashley Schroeder]

The style of laugh-eteria is unique. After reading this book I thought that this book had NO meaning to it whatsoever. I like when I’m bored and want something fun to read, then I would read this kind of book, but otherwise it is just childish. It should be read by elementary students not middle schoolers like me. The fact that there is no point to these poems blows my mind, because everything has to have a meaning to it whether you know the meaning or not. As far as I’m concerned, this book has no point to it although it might have been made for like a 3rd grader, but still, do you really need to have this stupidity thrown into a book? Shel Silverstein did it and now Douglas Florian does it too. There are probably tons and tons more people doing the same thing these people are doing with writing. Writing like this to me, looses brain cells or at least makes you stupider just a tad. People who are 12 years and older shouldn't be reading this kind of poetry. In my opinion these books shouldn't even be allowed in our library at my school.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

One poem out of this book is about a kid who is saying the school lunch is nasty. The food tastes bad and gross but the kid still thinks lunch is the best thing at school.

I liked this book, some poems were funny and good, but others were not so funny and really cheesy and dumb.

I would recommend this poetry book except its really cheesy on a lot of poems and I kind of got tired of reading the boring ones.

[Kallie Krammes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book I think mainly because I am an adult and reading silly kids poems do not effect me the same way they would children. I think that they were meant to be funny and entertaining with the strange drawings to accompany them, but I did not find many of them funny and some of the were very cheesy. I am sure a child would like these those because they were relatable and an easy read.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant poetry. Kids love this book.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh-eteria is a book filled with fun-loving poems and drawings anyone can enjoy. The central idea developed from this collection of poems is this: Fun. The poetry in this book can be seen as casual or laid-back. It talks about a range of things from mermaids to creepy substitute teachers. They are meant for entertainment towards all ages.
This book has a strong sense of imagery. Although there are images already placed into this book, the way these poems are written can instantly strike an image into your head. For example, the poem “Beware the Beast” starts with the lines:

Beware the beast / With seventeen feet / That silently shuffles / Its way down the street.

Just by crossing four short lines, you can quickly come up with the image of a seventeen-footed beast crawling up your driveway. Another device is rhyming, which particularly adds to this book. With this book being created for kicks, it would seem right for these poems to rhyme.
This book reminded me of Shel Silverstein. I would often read his poems in elementary school. I loved his poems because they were carefree and I could personally have fun with them. Douglas Florian was able to make that connection with his fun poems. I enjoyed reading and laughing along to these silly poems. I’m glad I could connect with my younger self again.

[Alex Reategui · Rating 1 out of 5]

Laugh-eteria had no plot whatsoever. There were short poems on each page that were supposed to make you laugh. I think the book was intended to be funny but it really wasn't. There were however pictures on every page to go with the coresponding poem. They added a little bit but not much.

The book had lots of rhyming and some imagry. The rhyming kind of helped to add to the imagry but the book was still dull. I really wish the book would have had more of other devices. The pictures on each page somewhat helped with the imagry but it needed more. It would have been better if the poems had more imagry and other devices in themselves.

I really did not enjoy this book. It was, in all reality, a very big disapointment. I picked it up hoping that it was going to be funny and make me laugh. Unfortunately it didn't. I was super bored while reading this book and it was just a big waste of time. I really do not recommend this book, unless you really have a strange disire to be disappointed and have time to waste. The next time I decide to read a poetry book I will make sure it is actually good before reading it.

[Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book that I read for April was Laugh-eteria by Douglas Florian. There wasn’t a central plot, it was just short poems on each page. It has had pictures to go with each poem, which was very cool. There were poems about dinosaurs, boats, car, pretty much anything. They all seem to try to be fun, there are no really depressing ones.

The main figurative device that I saw in this book was imagery. Imagery played a huge part in this book, and I think it made imagery the main one because there was pictures to go along with it. There were a lot of the poems that initially rhymed. I would of been surprised if that didn’t happen in a book of poems. The symbolism of the book I think was for it to just be fun for the reader.

In my opinion this was a very fun read. I don’t usually enjoy reading but I liked this book. If you are looking for a fun book to read, read this one. I felt like a little kid again because of the pictures in the book, so many good memories. So overall, it was a very fun book to read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fun book.

[Addison Box · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is hilarious! It has so many long poems and short ones also. I can’t count how many times I have read it. It almost feels like it gets better every time I read it. (And last I checked it was really funny so I must read it a lot!)

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny...would work well for getting children interested in writing poetry.

[Jaime]

These got too dark for us! Stopped being funny and were more gross/sad.
DNFed at 60%

[Assja Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good book. I needed to review since giving it away for Christmas operation child. I hope the boy I am giving this to will be inspired ❤️❤️❤️

[Dorothy Krombach]

Douglas Florian uses humor and enthusiasm to entertain the readers of his poetry. His collection includes a variety of poems ranging from ones about school to poems about dinosaurs. I really like the poem named “Substitute Teacher”. I chose this poem because it is humorous and students can relate to it. Florian talks about a substitute that is scary looking, fat, animal-like, and creature-like in this poem. The ending is the best part when it says, “But if you think SHE’S a creature, Wait till you meet our REGULAR teacher”. This is a great ending because it finishes the poem with a laugh.
The point of view is a great aspect to this poem. This is important because it is from the student’s point of view. When this is read to students they will be able to easily identify with the narrator and be able to understand the humor more. If it was told from the teacher’s or substitute’s point of view, it would not be as entertaining or humorous.
I could use this in my class to have the students come up with funny poems of their own. They could make up poems about the teacher. They could first list characteristics that describe them. After that, I could help them (depending on the age level) come up with rhyming verses that would connect the characteristics.

[Shannon Brasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh-eteria is a book full of humorous poems and accompanying drawings that will have your students laughing from beginning to end. I enjoyed this book because most of the poems are short, written about something the children would be familiar with, and have a simple, yet challenging vocabulary which will help to expand young readers vocabulary. I think this book is a great book to use to introduce children to poems, get them interested in reading poetry that is not too hard to understand, and even use to help them write their own silly poem. I even believe that some of these poems would be fun to display in your classroom such as Gum Drop when discussing the no gum in school rule. I think the poems in this book are meant for younger readers.

[Stanislav242 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent book which I picked for my Lit class. The jokes are somewhat corny and outdated, but they are still funny and who can resist funny? The subjects are tried and true, like monsters, sub teachers, lazy people and so on. There are some good memorable rhymes and some poems even feature alliteration. I think this book can appeal to both young and adult alike. While the frontpage cover pictures do look creepy with the mouths, the inside are simple black-and-white illustrations which help to visualize the poem. This is the book which makes poetry fun instead of boring old-school middle age/victorian style. Its simply filled with poetry and can help young poets compose their pieces too , taking examples.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Me for Kids @ TeensReadToo.com

In this entertaining poetry book, Douglas Florian pairs rhymes with simple black-and-white illustrations on subjects ranging from siblings, fishermen, April Fool's Day, homework, camels, the dangers of drinking ink, and much, much more.

With poems that are simple enough for beginning readers, and large drawings that would be great for coloring, LAUGH-ETERIA would be a fun gift for any creative child.

As an added bonus, some poems are a little gross and creepy, such as "Brain Drain" and "Monster Meatballs," which is sure to make reluctant readers want to pick it up!

[Jenna Arntz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that students would really enjoy this humorous book of poetry. All of the poems are very random and funny. I also love the drawings that go along with the poems. This would be a great book to have in the classroom for the students to read in their free time. In addition, it would be very useful in helping the students write their own poetry pieces.

[Ashley Hinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laugh-eteria is a fun-filled book of a variety of poems for all ages, especially for children. There are a mixture of poems with simple, sketched illustrations between families, school, food, and much more.

[Rose Goodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a lot of humorous poetry. I really like "Brush Rush." This book would be good to use for predictability and learning new words. It also has made up words that are fun to read. "Food for Thought" is good for figures of speech. I think you should read it.

[Janet Squires]

Just for Fun!
Florian shares over a hundred humor-filled verses in a variety of forms and on a variety of subjects. Here's a poem that sums up both the spirit and intent.


Good Humor

The poems in this bookAre meant to humorous.


If they are not,Please laugh just to humor us

[Nielson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poem: Sigh-clops (pg.135). Funny poem. It plays on the word cyclops as all of the lines end with a "clops". Many of the poems in this book are about monsters/aliens/ghouls etc.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moster Meatballs - This poem is short and sweet. It is very cute and would be really fun to illustrate. This book of poems looks like a great one for the class.

[Rachel]

I read "Downsize" in this book. It is has pen and ink drawings with each poem. This particular poem has the text follow the message, so the line starts out big and they get smaller and smaller.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

"shameless punnery"

[Kristen Edge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poem book with LOTS of poems! This is a good book to use during a poetry cycle. Give lots of examples of differnt characteristics of poetry.

[Emily Rosbottom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this collection of poetry more than the author's other collection Bing, Bang, Boing. Goofy poems engage students. Great for the end of the school day.

[Savannah Shields · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is great poetry book that also contains a lot of school aged childrens' works and advice to others about school through their neatly designed poems and drawings.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read aloud poetry!

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very uneven. Some of the poems were delightful, but a lot of them were just not good. Like, I'm not sure why the editor even let them be included.

[Sierra Davis]

This was fun and good book. I will definitely use it in my class one day. I loved it.

[Siencloud · Rating 5 out of 5]

again, another great, funny poetry book.