Monster Soup: And Other Spooky Poems - Hardcover

The genesis of this captivating book was unusual: the compiler (who is also an illustrators' agent), responding to Rogers's fascination with monsters (`` `They' kept popping up in her sketches; and we would talk about `them' as though they already existed and were only in need of a place to be''), chose these 16 poems not only for their appeal but also to summon Rogers's particular vision. The result has a great deal of variety and a special charm, nicely summed up in a poem by de Regniers--``Scare me easy/Scare me slow/Scare me gentle/Don't let go/my hand.'' Though there are plenty of ghoulies, ghosties, and witches here, there's nothing wicked or gruesome; an ingenuous humor is at work, and recognition that these superficially ugly creatures (like Max's Wild Things) represent a part of ourselves that's not too bad. Whether it's Sawyer's picnicking bugs capsized by a ``giant'' toddler or Lee's ``Thunder'' made by a giant's children slamming doors, Bennett's power-shovel dinosaur or Prelutsky's armored ankylosaurus, Ciardi's Halloween creatures or cummings's ``Hist Whist,'' imagination is the key. Mellow, witty, and delightfully inventive, Rogers's illustrations are her best yet. A year-round winner. (Poetry/Picture book. 4+) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- The subject is monsters--some prehistoric, some bump-in-the-night imagined--all fearsome in some way and all portrayed cleverly in poetry with extraordinary illustrations. Selections are by e. e. cummings, Jack Prelutsky, and John Ciardi, as well as a dozen others; all have been previously published. There are a few surprising (but appropriate) selections among the expected: ``Giant,'' by Elizabeth Sawyer, portrays a red-rubber-booted child as an unlikely monster (from an insect's point of view); ``Thunder , '' by J. Lee , explains the phenomenon as the slamming of doors in a giant's house; and ``The Power Shovel , '' by Rowena Bennett , compares a large backhoe to a prehistoric beast. Rogers's watercolor illustrations push at the edges of the double-page spreads with details that children will love to ferret out. The endpapers display a stable of eerie monsters safely boxed into checkerboard squares. Interesting perspectives and wild images animate the poems with just enough fright-power to appeal to school-age children. --Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.