Animal Trunk: Silly Poems to Read Aloud - Hardcover

Charles Ghigna's whimsical poems will tickle the funny bones of young readers. This imaginative collection explores the adventurous and unpredictable world of animals. Bears chase honeybees, donkeys think they rule, monkeys do as monkeys please, and goats kick up their heels. Illustrated with bold, vibrantly colored pictures, these 15 delightfully silly animal poems are fun to read aloud. 32 illustrations in full color, 811/42 x 1011/42" CHARLES GHIGNA has written a number of poetry books for children. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Debra, and their son, Chip. GABRIEL has illustrated a range of work, including children's book covers, posters, and magazines. He lives in Belgium with his son Raphal.

Every one of Belgian artist Gabriel's illustrations for this animal kingdom primer is a stunner. Set against full-bleed backgrounds of vivid, saturated yellow, red, blue or green, his limited palette portrays exuberant bears, monkeys, lambs and other creatures that bring to mind primitivist folk art. A voracious crocodile rockets out of the water, his scaly skin looking like a mosaic of blue and green bottle glass. A tiger erupts in a feast of unexpected colors that evoke a tribal mask. Most of Ghigna's (Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose) simple rhymes rely heavily on repetition ("Crocodiles sun./ Crocodiles nap./ Crocodiles yawn./ Crocodiles snap"), and their chantlike meter meshes well with Gabriel's exotic visual stylings. Just when readers settle into a rhythm, a welcome aberration comes along ("It's easy to laugh/ At the tall giraffe/ Each time we go to the zoo"). This lively collection will have children clamoring for repeat performances until they can read all the rhymes solo. Ages 3-5. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.