Laugh-eteria - Hardcover

Florian, Douglas

3.73

98 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152020845 ISBN 13: 9780152020842

Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books, 1999

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Karate Kids
One was a black belt. One was a brown. One had a loose belt; His pants fell down.
Silly, irreverent, and always clever, these poems showcase Douglas Florian’s talent for turning plain old language into outrageously entertaining verse. Page after page of witty wordplay and droll black-and-white drawings are guaranteed to knock the socks off devoted poetry fans and newcomers alike.

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Review:

Kids will find plenty to chuckle over in Douglas Florian's punchline-rich Laugh-eteria, his seventh poetry offering after walloping successes like Bing Bang Boing and Insectlopedia. Well loved for his shameless punnery, Florian never hesitates to manipulate the language to suit his whim: "Graffiti, graffiti, / On sidewalk and streeti, / On glass and concreeti, / And on subway seati," begins one poem. Some of his verse rhymes quite neatly, such as this stanza from "Don't Drag a Dragon": "Don't drag a dragon by its tooth. / To drag it such is most uncouth, / Discourteous, and impolite, / And it will eat you in one bite." "What I'd Like to Share" bounces jauntily as well: "I'd like to share a nasty cold / And all my clothing that's too old. / I'd like to share a rotten chore. / Perhaps you'd like to the sweep the floor?" Other poems seem more unfinished, as if Florian got so excited about a certain goofy upside-down idea that it simply spilled out onto the page. In any case, Laugh-eteria is third-grader paradise, bursting with poem-riddles, flipped perspectives, and references to stinky feet, slimy food, monsters, noses, bugs, and dinosaurs that invariably reduce 8-year-olds to giggling heaps. Much like in Shel Silverstein's collections, each double-page spread comes to life with the poet's own freestyle ink drawings. Florian fans will enjoy the punster's groan-worthy wordplay, and kids will no doubt relish the rampant silliness that's strangely akin to their own. (Click to see a sample spread. Text and illustrations from Laugh-eteria, copyright �1999 by Douglas Florian. Reproduced by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company. (Ages 4 to 9) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

DOUGLAS FLORIAN is the creator of many acclaimed picture books including zoo's who;bow wow meow meow, a Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year; lizards, frogs, and polliwogs, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book;mammalabilia, an ABA's Pick of the Lists; insectlopedia, an ALA Notable Children's Book and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; andomnibeasts, a gift collection of his best-loved animal poems. He lives with his family in New York City.

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