So many kinds of animals
So many shapes and sizes
So many funny spots and dots
So many strange disguises
With her signature wordplay and wit, former children's poet laureate Mary Ann Hoberman celebrates the magnificence, ingenuity, and quirky qualities of creatures big and small. This thoughtfully crafted collection features sixty of Mary Ann's personal favorite poems curated from her sixty-five-year body of work, as well as eight new poems.
From a fine fat pig and backward running porcupines to a beastly card game and a yoga class for agile animals, this memorable menagerie is cunningly brought to life by three-time Caldecott Honoree Marla Frazee, in an imaginary world where the characters meet and tell an entertaining tale all their own.
A tour de force collection of poems and pictures by two legendary talents, this book creates a world that readers will never want to leave.
Marla Frazee has written and illustrated many acclaimed books for children, including the Caldecott Honor Books In Every Life, All the World (written by Liz Garton Scanlon), and A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever. Her picture book The Boss Baby is the inspiration for two DreamWorks animated feature films and a TV series. She's thrilled to be illustrating another book by Mary Ann Hoberman after their collaboration on The Seven Silly Eaters, a book that has delighted many families over the years. Marla has three grown sons, two grandsons, a Little Free Library in her front yard, and a studio under an avocado tree in her backyard in Pasadena, California. She invites you to visit her at marlafrazee.com.
A Bank Street College Best Children's Book
* "A multidimensional and thoughtful cross section of verse with keepers on nearly every page." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "A treasure trove of the familiar and the fresh.... A wonderful gift book for poetry lovers, but even children who have never considered learning a poem by heart will find much to love here." --The Horn Book, starred review
"Hoberman is really the master of unforced rhyme...and Emberley's pencil-and-watercolor illustrations are as consistently spry as the poems." --The Horn Book