Book Review - BEHOLD THE BOLD UMBRELLAPHANT: AND OTHER POEMS by Jack Prelutsky

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prelutsky, Jack. 2006. BEHOLD THE BOLD UMBRELLAPHANT: AND OTHER POEMS. Ill. by Carin Berger. Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0060543175

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Once again, Jack Prelutsky strikes gold with his poetry. Similar to his other works (WHAT A DAY IT WAS AT SCHOOL or IT'S RAINING PIGS AND NOODLES), this collection of poetry is wacky, zany, and sure to tickle the senses. In this anthology, Prelutsky combines animals with inanimate objects, giving the animals an added bonus.

For instance, there is The Eggbeaturky, featuring a turkey with eggbeaters for "whisklike legs". There is also a Solitary Spatuloon, using a blue loon with a spatula for a body (capable of flipping pancakes, of course). This book is geared toward the younger ages, but a child of ANY age (4 to 94) will enjoy this play on words.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jack Prelustky taps into the part of the body that kids love the most...the funny bone! Nothing appeals to a child more than silliness, and this book hits the spot. The animals that Prelutsky creates with inanimate objects are just mind-boggling. How does he think of this stuff? A Circular Sawtortise? A Pop-up Toadster? Amazing. The descriptions further add to the laughter as Prelutsky "fleshes" out his incredible animal designs.

However, truth be told, it is the illustrations that take this book to a whole new level. Yes, the poems are vivid and detailed and extremely funny. But to SEE the animal creation opens up a whole new world. When I'm reading about The Ballpoint Penguin, I want to see it! And Carin Berger does not disappoint. Rather than draw the inventions, Berger clips and snips through old-style magazines and prints and newspapers and fashions the Prelustsky creation. This illustration style appeals to children, especially those who are not artistically inclined. Even they can come up with these zany images.

This book is a delight and begs to be read aloud, as well as again and again.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
* Starred review in PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: "Prelutsky fans are in for a treat with this collection that combines his latest book of poetry with two other favorite anthologies (Scranimals; What a Day It Was at School!) and features several original songs."

* Starred review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: "The detail in the mixed-media pictures makes this a good choice for individual or lap reading, but the poetry begs to be read aloud. This is definitely a do not miss poetry pick."


5. CONNECTIONS
*For combining art skills with language arts, have the children come up with their own animal/inanimate object creation and then design it using pictures they clip from old magazines.

*Living Books has a Jack Prelutsky poem as part of their collection. Have the children get onto the PC's and work through THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK and then come up with their own rendition.