Monster Soup: And Other Spooky Poems - Softcover

Evans, Dilys

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0590452096 ISBN 13: 9780590452090

Publisher: Scholastic, 1995

Synopsis

Features a variety of poems about things that go bump in the night by John Ciardi, e.e. cummings, and others

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

The genesis of this captivating book was unusual: the compiler (who is also an illustrators' agent), responding to Rogers's fascination with monsters (`` `They' kept popping up in her sketches; and we would talk about `them' as though they already existed and were only in need of a place to be''), chose these 16 poems not only for their appeal but also to summon Rogers's particular vision. The result has a great deal of variety and a special charm, nicely summed up in a poem by de Regniers--``Scare me easy/Scare me slow/Scare me gentle/Don't let go/my hand.'' Though there are plenty of ghoulies, ghosties, and witches here, there's nothing wicked or gruesome; an ingenuous humor is at work, and recognition that these superficially ugly creatures (like Max's Wild Things) represent a part of ourselves that's not too bad. Whether it's Sawyer's picnicking bugs capsized by a ``giant'' toddler or Lee's ``Thunder'' made by a giant's children slamming doors, Bennett's power-shovel dinosaur or Prelutsky's armored ankylosaurus, Ciardi's Halloween creatures or cummings's ``Hist Whist,'' imagination is the key. Mellow, witty, and delightfully inventive, Rogers's illustrations are her best yet. A year-round winner. (Poetry/Picture book. 4+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- The subject is monsters--some prehistoric, some bump-in-the-night imagined--all fearsome in some way and all portrayed cleverly in poetry with extraordinary illustrations. Selections are by e. e. cummings, Jack Prelutsky, and John Ciardi, as well as a dozen others; all have been previously published. There are a few surprising (but appropriate) selections among the expected: ``Giant,'' by Elizabeth Sawyer, portrays a red-rubber-booted child as an unlikely monster (from an insect's point of view); ``Thunder , '' by J. Lee , explains the phenomenon as the slamming of doors in a giant's house; and ``The Power Shovel , '' by Rowena Bennett , compares a large backhoe to a prehistoric beast. Rogers's watercolor illustrations push at the edges of the double-page spreads with details that children will love to ferret out. The endpapers display a stable of eerie monsters safely boxed into checkerboard squares. Interesting perspectives and wild images animate the poems with just enough fright-power to appeal to school-age children. --Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0590452096
• ISBN 13: 9780590452090
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 36
• Illustrator: Rogers Jacqueline