Stuff
Product Details
Margaret K. McElderry Books, March 2009
Hardcover, 40 pages
ISBN-10: 1416942114
ISBN-13: 9781416942115
Grades: P - 3
Awards and Nominations
- ALA Notable Children's Books
- Bank Street Best Books of the Year
- Beehive Award Master List (UT)
- Bulletin Blue Ribbon
- CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)
- IRA Teachers' Choices
- Keystone to Reading Book Award Master List (PA)
- NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts
- School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
- South Carolina Book Award Nominee
- Volunteer State Book Award Master List (TN)
See all
Description
In a watery mirror
the rugged raccoon
admires his face
by the light of the moon:
the mysterious mask,
the whiskers beneath,
the sliver of cricket
still stuck in his teeth.
Take a lighthearted romp through four seasons in the forest with these whimsical poems. Marvel at the overachieving beaver, applaud the race-winning snail and its perfect trail of slime, or head off to be pampered at a squirrel spa.
Warning: Deborah Ruddell's quirky cast of animal characters and Joan Rankin's deliciously daffy pictures will cause giggles. The woods have never been so much fun!
How did you come to write this book?
I found most of the characters for my new book, A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk, in a forest where I go to walk by myself and think great thoughts. Even though it's a public nature preserve, I think of it as my forest. It sits on a river bluff with steep trails and shady valleys and it is full of things to see, hear, feel, and smell.
On one of my walks, I heard a rustling sound coming from deep down in the valley. It was an opossum shuffling along all alone, seemingly downhearted. That encounter inspired a poem about a lonely opossum who daydreams about her marsupial cousins and the exciting lives that they must lead in faraway lands.
Most of the poems in the book started the same way: Something I saw, heard, felt, or smelled in the woods sparked an image or a story in my mind. As the collection began to take shape, I saw that I could frame the book as a year-long walk through the woods -- from one spring to the next.
"Twenty-three evocative poems about forest animals, beautifully illustrated. Literary variety serves this collection well, with many differenct lengths, rhyme schemes and moods...An excellent collection with broad age appeal."
-- Kirkus, Starred Review
"The happy result is a lively and inviting collection that invites both examination of poetry and examination of habitat; the vivacious verses are suitable for reading aloud or alone, inside or outside..."
-- The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review
"Once again, the poems and artwork create whimsical scenarios that will amuse kids even as they subtly incorporate basic zoological facts...Both lighthearted and substantive, this is a good choice for cross-curricular sharing."
-- Booklist
More from
-
Who Said Coo?Lulu's a sleepy pig whose mischievous friends try everything to keep her from sleeping in Who Said Coo? by Deborah Ruddell, illustrated by Robin LuebsRead More
-
Off to First GradeIt's the first day of first grade, and everyone in Mrs. Miller's class is getting ready! Anna is excited about reading zillions of books, Ben's mom...Read More -
-
Today at the Bluebird CafeIt's all-you-can-eat at the Bluebird Café, A grasshopper-katydid-cricket buffet, with berries and snails and a bluebottle fly, a sip of the lake...Read More
-
A Frog in the BogThere's a frog on the log in the middle of the bog. A small, green frog on a half-sunk log in the middle of the bog....Read More
-
Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of CatsMrs. McTats loves cats -- and they love her too! At first Mrs. McTats has only one cat, Abner, but quickly finds herself in a house bursting with...Read More
Displaying 1 of
