Beastly Verse
poems by various authors
illustrations by JooHee Yoon
Enchanted Lion Books, 2015
review copy provided by the publisher
Along with 9 lesser known (to me) or anonymous poets, Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, Wiliam Blake, Hilaire Belloc, Christina Rossetti, D.H. Lawrence, and Walter de la Mare all have poems in this vibrantly illustrated collection of beastly verse.
JooHee Yoon used hand drawing and computer techniques and just three Pantone colors for the illustrations, and each page dances and vibrates with color and creativity. Every four or five pages there is a fun gatefold to open up that completes an illustration, or holds a surprise for the reader.
The spread for Eletelephony has a gatefold with a surprise. Before you open the gatefold, you see a living room scene with a telephone ringing. When you open the gatefold, the elephant has attempted to answer the telephone and is completely tangled in the cord!
Eletelephony
by Laura Elizabeth Richards
Once there was an elephant,
Who tried to use the telephant—
No! No! I mean an elephant
Who tried to use the telephone—
(Dear me! I am not certain quite
That even now I’ve got it right.)
Howe’er it was, he got his trunk
Entangled in the telephunk;
The more he tried to get it free,
The louder buzzed the telephone—
(I fear I’d better drop the song
Of elephop and telephony!)
Heidi has the roundup today at My Juicy Little Universe.
Looks like a fun book. I loved "Eletelephony" when I was little. Great to see it again.
ReplyDeleteTell the elephant to talk to the yip-yips from Sesame Street!
ReplyDeleteCute poem from a cute book. I'm off to look for this title at the library. =)
ReplyDeleteLoved Eletelephony! Thanks for sharing about this book :-)
ReplyDeleteOh what fun wordplay -- and I am a sucker for any poem containing an elephant! Thank you for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds wonderful, Mary Lee. Nothing nicer than a new book illustrating old favorites. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou keep adding to my To-Get-And-OR-To-Read stack, Mary Lee ... this looks like a must. Thanks for the illustration info, too. "Eletelephony" was one of the few poems I remember specifically from early childhood - that kind of clever wordplay never gets old.
ReplyDeleteOh we had a beasts and monsters reading theme once, and I had such a fun time looking for poetry books with this kind of vibe. Have you read Monsterologist yet? That one is really cute too.
ReplyDelete"Eletelephony" is an old favorite of mine, and your description of these illustrations dancing and vibrating with color looks apt. Off to add this to my wish list!
ReplyDeleteYes, Robyn--I think Mary Lee and Franki might have to retitle their blog "Much More Than a Year of Reading"!
ReplyDeleteThis is an add to my classroom collection for sure.
What fun! Beastly Verse sounds like a wonderful book of poetry. I'm so glad to know that "Eletelephony" is included--it's one of my favorite poems from childhood. I chose it as a poem to memorize and recite. It was one of the few times I actually wanted to recite because the poem was so funny to me!
ReplyDelete