Scranimals - Hardcover

Prelutsky, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688178197 ISBN 13: 9780688178192

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 2002

Synopsis

We're sailing to
Scranimal Island,
It doesn't appear on
most maps....

Scranimal Island
is where you will find
the fragrant RHINOCEROSE,
the cunning BROCCOLIONS.
And if you are really, really lucky
and very, very quiet,
you will spot
the gentle, shy PANDAFFODIL.
(You may even hear it yawning
If the morning's just begun,
Watch its petals slowly open
To embrace the rising sun.

So put on your pith helmet and prepare to explore a wilderness of puns and rhymes where birds, beasts, vegetables, and flowers have been mysteriously scrambled together to create creatures you've never seen before -- and are unlikely to meet again! Your guides -- Jack Prelutsky, poet laureate of the elementary school set, and two-time Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sis -- invite you to join them on an adventure you will never forget!

About this title

Review

Poet Jack Prelutsky again pairs up with two-time Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sís to create Scranimal Island, a fantastical, off-the-map place inhabited by unusual animals from Hippopotamushrooms to Potatoads to a pride of Broccolions. A boy and girl on a scooter, equipped with essentials from umbrella to inner tube, fly from habitat to habitat over Sís's dreamy, mountainous landscapes ŕ la Tibet: Through the Red Box. They make their way through the clutch of Spinachickens, past the Camelberta Peaches to the "Sweet Porcupineapple, / Unflappable chap, / You happily amble / All over the map." Prelutsky's biological inventions are as clever as they are silly, and it's wonderful that kids are allowed to figure out the hybrid themselves in Rhinocerose, Cardinalbacore, etc. Prelutsky's glee is contagious, and kids will get a kick out of the wordplay in poems like "Oh Sleek Bananaconda": "You slither on your belly, / And you slither on your chin. / You're only unappealing / As you shed your slinky skin." Pronunciation guides for each creature garnish each page, in case you can't pronounce Toucanemones right off the bat, and an iconic guide to the island's animals adorns the table of contents page. Gorgeous endpapers reveal Sís's map of Scranimal Island and its curious denizens. It's impossible to pick a favorite, between the unbelievably cute Pandaffodil and the detested Radishark. Highly recommended. (Ages 6 to 10) --Karin Snelson

About the Author

Jack Prelutsky is the best-selling author of more than fifty books of poetry, including The New Kid on the Block, illustrated by James Stevenson, and Stardines Swim High Across the Sky, illustrated by Carin Berger. Jack Prelutsky lives in Washington State.

Peter Sís is an internationally acclaimed author, artist, and filmmaker. Among his works are three Caldecott Honor books: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain; Tibet: Through the Red Box; and Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei. He has illustrated five other novels by Sid Fleischman, including the Newbery Medal book The Whipping Boy. He lives with his family in New York State.

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0688178197
• ISBN 13: 9780688178192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Sis Peter