Product Description

We're sailing to Scranimal Island,

It doesn't appear on most maps....

Scranimal Island is where you will find the fragrant Rhinocerose, the cunning Broccolions, and if you are really, really lucky and very, very quiet, you will spot the gentle, shy Pandaffodil. (You may even hear it yawning if the morning's just begun, watch its petals slowly open to embrace the rising sun.

So put on your pith helmet and prepare to explore a wilderness of puns and rhymes where birds, beasts, vegetables, and flowers have been mysteriously scrambled together to create creatures you've never seen before –– and are unlikely to meet again! Your guides –– Jack Prelutsky, poet laureate of the elementary school set, and two–time Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sis – invite you to join them on an adventure you will never forget!

Ages 4+

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #237272 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 48 pages

From Amazon.com
Poet Jack Prelutsky again pairs up with two-time Caldecott Honor artist Peter Sís to create Scranimal Island, a fantastical, off-the-map place inhabited by unusual animals from Hippopotamushrooms to Potatoads to a pride of Broccolions. A boy and girl on a scooter, equipped with essentials from umbrella to inner tube, fly from habitat to habitat over Sís's dreamy, mountainous landscapes à la Tibet: Through the Red Box. They make their way through the clutch of Spinachickens, past the Camelberta Peaches to the "Sweet Porcupineapple, / Unflappable chap, / You happily amble / All over the map." Prelutsky's biological inventions are as clever as they are silly, and it's wonderful that kids are allowed to figure out the hybrid themselves in Rhinocerose, Cardinalbacore, etc. Prelutsky's glee is contagious, and kids will get a kick out of the wordplay in poems like "Oh Sleek Bananaconda": "You slither on your belly, / And you slither on your chin. / You're only unappealing / As you shed your slinky skin." Pronunciation guides for each creature garnish each page, in case you can't pronounce Toucanemones right off the bat, and an iconic guide to the island's animals adorns the table of contents page. Gorgeous endpapers reveal Sís's map of Scranimal Island and its curious denizens. It's impossible to pick a favorite, between the unbelievably cute Pandaffodil and the detested Radishark. Highly recommended. (Ages 6 to 10) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
The meisters of madcap are at it again. This time, Prelutsky and Sis (The Dragons Are Singing Tonight) head off on safari to Scranimal Island, an exotic spot full of odd hybrid creatures just ripe for their devious brand of silliness. Whether tracking a caravan of Camelberta Peaches ("All have humpy, bumpy backs, Stocked with water, juice, and snacks, So the creatures never need Wonder where to drink or feed"), avoiding the clutches of the dread Radishark ("Its appalling, bulbous body Is astonishingly red, And its fangs are sharp and gleaming In its huge and horrid head") or spying on the Bananaconda ("How sinuous and sly you are, How slippery, how yellow"), they scramble up a smorgasbord of flora and fauna. Prelutsky tweaks language with his characteristic glee, wedging in plenty of humor ("Poor Avocadodos, Ungainly and green, You're gone from today's Biological scene") and, as always when Si s is on board, his exquisite artistry raises the bar, adding depth to Prelutsky's light verse. Plying his trademark delicate line and crosshatching, Si s sets off the fantastic creatures against spare, expansive vistas, investing the muted ink-and-watercolor illustrations with a quizzically visionary style. A pair of brightly clad young explorers lurk at the edge of each scene, adding a droll visual grace note. All ages.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-Prelutsky introduces the curious inhabitants of Scranimal Island through his skillful and captivating poems. The creatures, such as the Mangorilla and Orangutangerine, are each a cross between an animal and a fruit, vegetable, or flower, and behave accordingly. For instance, "On a bump beside a road/Sits a lowly POTATOAD,/Obviously unaware/Of its own existence there./On its coarse and warty hide,/It has eyes on every side,/Eyes that fail, apparently,/To take note of what they see." S's's illustrations are a wonderful combination of the eerie and humorous (readers might be reminded of his fantastical island in Komodo! [Greenwillow, 1993]), and give children a visual clue as to the creature's elements, in case they haven't figured it out yet. (A rebus-like chart on the back cover is more explicit, illustrating "potato + toad = potatoad", etc.) Hippopotamushrooms smile benevolently from their forest floor, the Pandaffodil munches bamboo beatifically, majestic Broccolions stalk the lithe Antelopetunia. These black-line and watercolor illustrations in a light palette take up three-quarters of each spread; the verses, in large and legible black type, accompany them on a pastel-tinged antique paper background. On occasion on this island, readers may come across a creature that is a cross of two animals (no plant matter involved), such as the Ostricheetah or the Stormy Petrelephant. Though as eloquently described, they are simply not as funny as the Porcupineapple or the Avocadodos, and somehow spoil the fun. The point of nonsense, after all, is to stick to the rules-just, the wrong rules. Nevertheless, Prelutsky and S's have pulled off something great here-it is their best collaboration to date.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Strikingly humorous!
When I saw this book in the bookstore, I knew it would be good. Some of the things I didn't get at first, but my parents told me. When I reached that point, I found the humor in each one.
"On a bump beside a road
Sits a lowly Potatoad,
Obviously unaware
Of its own existence there."
This is a great read for all ages, despite complicated and hard-to-understand animals like the Stormy Petrelephant and the Cardinalbacore. I strongly suggest you should read this book.
-By Wu Love

A Classic in the Making
This is a book that I delight in reading over and over - something I can't say for most books. The rhymes are fun and imaginative and flow naturally. The vocabulary used is adult and lends depth to the images. The illustrations are fascinating and relaxing with their dense patterns, quiet colors, and wide vistas. My daughter, who is six, loves the book and I imagine she will love it for many years. Scranimals is a classic. It will definitely get passed down to future generations of our family.

Scrambled Safari Fun.....
"We're sailing to Scranimal Island,/It doesn't appear on most maps./The PARROTTERS float on the tide there,/The STORMY PETRELEPHANT flaps./We may find a rare OSTRICHEETAH,/There's never been one in a zoo./We're sailing to Scranimal Island-/You're welcome to come along too." So pack your bags and join a young boy and girl on the safari adventure of a lifetime. It's time to explore an island of never before seen mixed up animals, vegetables, birds, flowers, and sea creatures. Meet the aromatic RHINOSEROSE, the green SPINACHICKENS, lowly POTATOAD, and inert HIPPOPOTAMUSHROOMS. Frolic with the noisy PARROTTERS, and the sweet PORCUPINEAPPLE. Swing through the trees with the MANGORILLA, and ORANGUTANGERINE. Watch a pride of BROCCOLIONS hunting ANTELOPETUNIA for dinner, and cavort in a mountain meadow with a PANDAFFODIL. And don't forget to visit the TOUCANEMONES, RADISHARK, BANANACONDA, poor, extinct AVOCADODOS, and other scrambled creatures living out their days on this magical island..... Jack Prelutsky's creative and inventive "scranimal" poems are filled with rhyme, rhythm, engaging wordplay, humor, and silly puns. Award winning illustrator, Peter Sis' intricately detailed artwork dazzles, and will send imaginations soaring with each page turn. Perfect for youngsters of all ages, Scranimals is a unique and captivating, fun-filled romp, and definitely Prelutsky and Sis at their very best. "We've journeyed to Scranimal Island,/Where magical creatures are found,/Where AVOCADODOS still flourish,/And green SPINACHICKENS abound./We've seen a PANDAFFODIL dining,/A PORCUPINEAPPLE at play./Perhaps there is more to discover-/We'd like to return there someday." We can only hope that day comes very soon.