The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders - Hardcover

Prelutsky, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688167195 ISBN 13: 9780688167196

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 2002

Synopsis

Twenty-eight rollicking rhymes from the undisputed master of hilarious verse for children, Jack Prelutsky, are matched with enchanting illustrations by Petra Mathers in this uproarious poetry collection. 

In this collection there are tongue-twisting (but real) places to visit, such as Tuscaloosa and Winnemucca. There are remarkable sights, such as an elephant perched in a sycamore tree. And there are unforgettable characters, including Granny Gooding, Sarah Small, and Barnaby Boone, all of whose poems are guaranteed to make you smile. Young, sweet, and simply silly, you can bet your boots that this book will have everyone seeing red—suspenders, that is!

From Minneapolis to the Grand Canyon, Tuscaloosa to Seattle, families across the country will love this irresistible modern classic!

About this title

About the Authors

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.

Petra Mathers is the creator of many award-winning books for children, including Lottie's New Friend and Sophie and Lou. She lives in Astoria, Oregon.

From the Back Cover

Jack Prelutsky is the undisputed master of hilarious verse for the youngest child. And Petra Mathers, has no equal when it comes to bringing anything with fur or feathers uproariously to life. Put the two of them together -and you have a modern classic.

Here are poems about people and animals, set in such far-flung places as Minot, Minneapolis, Tuscaloosa, Tucumcari, and the Grand Canyon. Impossible to read only once (and memorized by the third reading), these exuberant poems and irresistible pictures will be loved by children from Miami to Seattle.

Reviews

Preschool-Grade 3--The prolific poet is back with an illustrator who matches him in freshness and simplicity. The poems offer vivid glimpses of life; have a beginning, middle, and end; and have a clear underlying music and flow. The selections are for a slightly younger audience than much of Prelutsky's work: some poems are as simple as Mother Goose rhymes ("Baby in a high chair,/baby in a bib,/baby in a stroller,/baby in a crib"), while others would make great flannelboard rhymes for sharing with four- and five-year-olds ("In her garden, Sarah Small/grows galoshes, short and tall./Shirts of yellow, hats of red/beautify her flower bed"). Many of the 28 poems play with American place names, from Tuscaloosa to Tucumcari, and might enliven a geography lesson. Mathers's wonderful watercolors highlight her talents for color and expression. Her treatment of light is lovely, especially in her delicate and exquisite skies, while the comic dignity of some of her creatures, such as the frogs in red suspenders, suits Prelutsky's mood just right. A superb choice.

Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 3-8. In a companion to Ride a Purple Pelican (1986) and Beneath a Blue Umbrella (1990), Prelutsky's animal nonsense rhymes for younger children range across the country, from "Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete" on a bright Atlanta street to "Seven Snails and Seven Snakes" that swam across the five Great Lakes. There are also fantasy settings, such as the garden where clothes grow and the place where 10 brown bears with big bow ties gobble plates of apple pies. The large-size book is spacious in design, great for reading aloud, and Mathers is at her best with double-page watercolors that combine farce and silliness with clear, precise characters and landscapes that range from one small hen's awe-inspiring view of the Grand Canyon to a tender close-up of an old owl in a silent forest. Prelutsky does what he says in his letter in Seeing the Blue Between (see p.1250): he makes the ordinary special. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688167195
• ISBN 13: 9780688167196
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Mathers Petra
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64