Product Description

Not far from a greenish town the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies while overhead on Highwire 66 there s a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Ed s funny smell Eliza s special jacket--they re all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks fourteen stories about pesky snails sleeping fruit and one funky snowman.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #407508 in Books
• Brand: Houghton Mifflin
• Published on: 1998-03-02
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .38" h x 7.56" w x 10.32" l, .82 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 32 pages

From Amazon.com
Author and illustrator Calef Brown is a blue elephant, we're told on the back flap of the book, and we half-believe it, judging from this exuberant, unforgettable collection of 14 ultra-hip rhyming stories about everything from sleeping fruit to a funky--and we mean funky--snowman. In comical folk-art paintings, bathed in truly delicious colors, we meet Ed. "Introducing Ed, / with cherries on his head. / He says, 'I like the color,' / So all his stuff is red..." One odd hamlet is described like this: "Clementown is greenish, / the people tall and leanish, / the dogs bark very loudish, / but not because they're meanish." Brown sings the praises of "Snails" as well: "...they don't make threats, / they don't eat meat, / they don't place bets, / they almost always pay their debts / and never puff on cigarettes." These poems are as nonsensical as Edward Lear's, but clearly for modern hipster kids, and, well, adults, too. (Click to see a sample spread. Illustrations © 1998 by Calef Brown.) (All ages) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly
HWith ebullient Dixieland/ragtime jazz as accompaniment, Pinkwater, children's book author and radio personality, gleefully performs Brown's 14 hip and funny story-poems. An on-air rave about this book by Pinkwater during his children's book segment on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday back in 1998 helped put the title on the map (and obviously gave Pinkwater an edge when it came time to cast this audio production). Listeners can't help hearing Pinkwater's clear appreciation of the silly subject matter; at times he seems on the verge of giggling, reading lines like "Funky Snowman loves to dance./ You'd think he wouldn't have much chance/ without two legs/ or even pants.... Kick it, Funky Snowman!" Out-of-the-ordinary images abound, from a "tightrope traffic jam" of circus performers on Highwire 66 to the Bathtub Driver and his three-legged duck and Georgie Spider, pie baker extraordinaire. A great title for National Poetry Month, or any time. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-4AWhile the title advertises 14 stories, this is actually a collection of poems. The subjects range from a man with octopus legs in bell-bottom pants to skeleton flowers. While some of the poems may entertain upper-elementary children, some of the intended humor will puzzle young readers; for example, the bats have jury duty and the pants fit like apple pie. While the silliness may hold some appeal, the rhythms are forced ("The pockets all have numbers, numbers on the jacket pockets"), making them difficult to read aloud. Many of the quirky illustrations feature animals with human heads or people of unusual colors. This is not a selection for libraries with limited budgets.AMarty Abbott Goodman, L.J. Bell Elementary School, Rockingham, NC
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.