Limerick Comics - Softcover

Hoyman, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1732818614 ISBN 13: 9781732818613

Publisher: Robert Hoyman, 2019

Synopsis

Limerick Comics offers lighthearted original limericks on a wide range of history and science topics, each with an informational panel of surprising facts, presented in entertaining comics. Young readers age 8 and up are invited to linger on each page to enjoy the humor, ponder inferences, and view the evocative details of each illustrated panel. This innovative blend of verse and fun facts is crafted to appeal to reluctant and advanced readers alike. Limerick Comics is a cross-curricular deep-dive sure to provide a springboard for discussion between kids and parents, or teachers and students.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Hoyman is a graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa. His journey as a classroom teacher spanned 41 years teaching in private and public schools in Florida, California, and Virginia. Limerick Comics is his debut book. He is a member of SCBWI.

Review

Collected limericks for children ages 8 to 12 humorously present factual tidbits from science and history with
comic-book-style illustrations.

In his debut book, Hoyman combines two forms that kids love--limericks and comic books--to offer one-page lessons on
various subjects. Five panels, one for each line of the limerick (sometimes with additional comments from characters in
word balloons), are followed by a sixth with more information. The opening limerick, for example, concerns jesters: "The
jester was called by the King, / To tell a few riddles and sing. / Instead of his shtick, / He "pigeoned" in sick, / And was
exiled up north of Peking." The jester can be seen telling the beginning of a joke ("Did you hear the one about the bubonic
plague?"), juggling, sending a messenger pigeon to the king while enjoying a day off fishing, and finally being tossed over
the Great Wall of China. The sixth panel explains how jesters entertained kings and noblemen and what "exile" means.
Other topics, in no particular order, include animals, such as anglerfish and chimpanzees; history and culture, such as the
Pony Express, lamplighters, and clowns; and inventions, such as concrete. A glossary is included. Hoyman's limericks
generally scan and rhyme well, and background information is always interesting. One entry, based on what may be a
true story, introduces readers to Sadie "the Goat" Farrell, a Hudson River pirate known for head-butting people. She lost
her left ear--bitten off, as the sixth panel explains, by Gallus Mag, a New York City tavern bouncer. Some limericks are
gross, a few didactic, and many straightforwardly informational. No sources are provided for these facts, but they seem
sound; "caveman," however, is an obsolete term. Feldman (Noah Learns To Share, 2017, etc.) varies his panels in size
and distance (wide, medium, and close-up shots), giving them depth with good shadowing and a rich palette. His human
figures are diverse and somewhat stylized but show expression well.

Both amusing and instructive, with broad appeal and excellent illustrations.--"Kirkus Reviews"

About this edition

• Publisher: Robert Hoyman
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1732818614
• ISBN 13: 9781732818613
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 34
• Illustrator: Feldman Steve