Beast Feast

by Douglas Florian

Overview

In this hilarious collection of twenty-one original animal poems and paintings, the animals are out in all their finned, furry, and feathered glory. From lobsters to rheas to fireflies, kiwis to camels to chameleons, here’s a beast for everyone to love!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780152017378
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/15/1998
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	325,260
Product dimensions:	9.75(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

DOUGLAS FLORIAN is the creator of many acclaimed poetry picture books, including lizards, frogs, and polliwogs, a Child Magazine Best Book of the Year; mammalabilia, an ABA's Pick of the Lists; and insectlopedia, a New York Times bestseller, ALA Notable Children's Book, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. He lives with his family in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Florian ( Monster Motel ; Vegetable Garden ) indeed presents a feast--for the eyes and the ears--in this cheerful collection of brief, bouncy poems describing an eclectic roundup of animals. Each focusing on a single ``beast,'' the entries range from snappy two-liners (``The rhea rheally isn't strange-- / It's just an ostrich, rhearranged'') to relatively longer poems of cleverly rhymed couplets. Florian's distinctive, full-page watercolors are as playful as his verse: a chameleon (whose hue changes ``from mousy browns to leafy greens / And several colors in between'') holds an artist's palette and paintbrush; and the ``tubby toad'' (who is ``so squat and plump / That rarely does it even jump'') weighs in on a bathroom scale. An ideal read-aloud, this volume will leave young listeners as lighthearted as its own contents. Ages 4-8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-4-A colorful and clever assemblage of 21 animals, from the walrus (``The pounding spatter/Of salty sea/ makes the walrus/Walrusty.'') to the kiwi (``Wings so small./No tail at all./ Very rare./Feathers like hair./Quiet and shy./Cannot fly./They call you a bird,/But I don't know why.''). Each brief poem employs an Ogden Nashian twist of language, a small surprise, or a happy insight into the familiar. The book's design is as appealing as the verses themselves, pairing each selection with a full-page, splashy, bordered watercolor. Large type, surrounded by plenty of white space, will appeal to younger readers. This collection is an uncluttered, short presentation by an author/illustrator who knows what children will find funny-add to that the bonus of factual information tucked into each poem, and the result is a winner. It's easy to imagine readers becoming inspired to write and illustrate their own poems after spending time with Florian. Clearly a wonderful book.- Lee Bock, Brown County Public Libraries, Green Bay, WI

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