Poem-mobiles: Crazy Car Poems

J. PATRICK LEWIS, the U.S. Children's Poet Laureate, is one of the best known children's poets writing today, and the author of many celebrated picture books. His books include Doodle Dandies, Please Bury Me in the Library, and First Dog, as well as two previous S&W titles—Kindergarten Cat and The Fantastic 5&10¢ Store.

DOUGLAS FLORIAN is the creator of many acclaimed picture books, including Dinothesaurus, the recipient of four starred reviews; Comet, Stars, the Moon and Mars, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book and a Horn Book Fanfare; and Bow Wow Meow Meow, a Gryphon Award winner. 

JEREMY HOLMES's first book for children, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, received the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima Award. He also created the jacket image for On the Day I Died by Candace Fleming.

K-Gr 4—The subtitle "Crazy Car Poems" correctly describes the contents of this collaboration-22 pieces of pure fanciful nonsense by two of America's cleverest and most inventive poets currently writing for young people. Offerings include a "Giant Bookmobile of Tomorrow," driven by the Gingerbread Man; a pirate-operated, ocean-going "Fish Car"; and a "Dragonwagon" that "feeds with greed on rusty bikes." The child whose dad navigates the 'Balloon Car' says "...boy, does he he get mad at me/When I call out- 'Hey, POP!' ...and the elderly lady operating the first-prize, supersize 'High-Heel Car' "...wins every footrace/Then honks her shoehorn." It's quite possible that Holmes had the most fun of all creating his spot-on, detail-laden illustrations of bizarre imaginary worlds ranging from above the rooftops to beneath the sea. Parts of his digitally-colored pencil and watercolor paintings appear to be formed from mixed media: polymer clay, paper/cardboard collage, a folded sheet of lined notebook paper with a paperclip grille and ballpoint bumper. The number of clever eccentricities in the illustrations is eye-boggling. For example, in the scene accompanying 'Bathtub Car', the duck/king's 'royal throne' is the kind found in the bathroom. Younger children will like the silliness of the poems; older kids and adults will enjoy poring over the pictures. This highly entertaining collection is fun to read and will provide inspiration for youngsters trying to create their own humorous poetry.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH