It's Raining Pigs & Noodles

It's Raining Pigs & Noodles

The master of mischievous rhyme, Jack Prelutsky, and his partner in crime, James Stevenson, have whipped up a storm of more than one hundred hilarious poems and zany drawings. Grab your umbrella—and make sure it's a big one! It's raining pigs and noodles, it's pouring frogs and hats, chrysanthemums and poodles, bananas, brooms, and cats. Assorted prunes and parrots are dropping from the sky, here comes a bunch of carrots, some hippopotami. Brace yourself for more pun-ishment from the playful Jack Prelutsky and illustrator James Stevenson, creators of The New Kid on the Block , Something Big Has Been Here , and A Pizza the Size of the Sun . More than 100 Prelutsky poems populate the pages--a mix of 8-year-old-boy humor, nonsense poetry in the tradition of Ogden Nash and Edward Lear, and clever, often unabashedly shameless, wordplay. While there are many, many doozies, our favorite is "Hiccup!," excerpted here: I've tried gulping hiccup water, stood upon my hiccup head, held my breath until my hiccup hiccup face turned hiccup red. Chronic cogitators are celebrated in "Quibble Q. Quing" (who thinks about things), and wild imaginations in "Purple Orangutans:" ("Rabbits and parrots play tag in the stars, / marshmallows march in the meadows of Mars... / these are a few of the wonders I find / in the magic museum I keep in my mind.") Children find a kindred spirit in Prelutsky, a poet who knows full well that overweight underdogs and chocolate-covered salami and Sniffing Snutterwudds are always worth a giggle. Stevenson's understated (but always expressive) line drawings suit this silly collection to a T. (Perfect for reading aloud to younger readers, but wordsmiths ages 9 and older will pick up all the puns.) --Karin Snelson Kindergarten-Grade 6-Another felicitous collaboration from this team, full of the joy of words and whimsical images. Though the format, size, and type of content is similar to the duo's other books, the verse is fresh and catchy with sparkling wordplay and unexpected rhymes, and Stevenson's line drawings project the humor with verve. Included are the usual poems about weird animals and unusual children, a dragon, yucky food, fantastic experiences in everyday situations, and quite a few clever shape poems. There is even a disappearing one that actually vanishes off the page. All but two of the selections are new. As in the previous books, a wide variety of typefaces and printing tricks are utilized to create an imaginative and entertaining look. Wonderful tools for teachers, the poems boast impeccable rhythms and rhymes and strongly appeal to a child's sense of humor, whether read aloud or independently. Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ages 4-8. "Is traffic jam delectable? / Does jelly fish in lakes?" With puns, slapstick, rhyme, nonsense, and lots of yucky food, the author-illustrator team that began with the popular New Kid on the Block (1984 ) are back with their fourth funny collection of more than 100 poems. The words have a bouncing rhythm that's great for reading aloud, and Stevenson's small, scribbly, casual ink drawings extend the humor with character and mischief. Like all the best nonsense, the wildness is grounded in its own logic, which depends as much on sound as meaning. Some of the words are in concrete shapes--a maze, a spiral, a zigzag--and the poems about burps and hiccups will make children do what they hear about. In the end, nearly everything comes down to food, whether it's chocolate-covered salami, worm puree, or Sir Lunchalot with his formidable lance. This is "unabated chaos" that also celebrates imagination. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “The reigning czars of silliness are back on the warpath, wreaking poetic havoc with yet another deliciously sly volume. Hats off to these two glorious goofballs!” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Sure to tickle readers young and old.” - The Horn Book “The verse is fresh and catchy with sparkling wordplay and unexpected rhymes, and line drawings the humor with verve.” - School Library Journal “Unabated chaos that celebrates imagination.” - ALA Booklist The poet laureate of the young set is back, with his artist laureate collaborator, to take another swipe at stuffiness.- Here are more than one hundred poems bursting to be read, chanted, laughed over, and remembered. It would be hard to find a schoolage kid who has not read or heard a Prelutsky poem and who does not want to hear another. He plays with the language and encourages readers to revel in the game. Puns, jokes, wordplay and shape play, wit, silliness, slapstick, and joy abound. Some of the poems are about people, some are about animals. And some are about things that never were (and that one hopes never will be). Be warned: Read a poem once and you will love it. Read it several times and it will