Scranimals
Poet Jack Prelutsky again pairs up with two-time Caldecott Honor artist  Peter Sís to create Scranimal Island, a fantastical, off-the-map place inhabited  by unusual animals from Hippopotamushrooms to Potatoads to a pride of  Broccolions. A boy and girl on a scooter, equipped with essentials from umbrella  to inner tube, fly from habitat to habitat over Sís's dreamy, mountainous  landscapes à laTibet: Through  the Red Box. They make their way through the clutch of Spinachickens,  past the Camelberta Peaches to the "Sweet Porcupineapple, / Unflappable chap, /  You happily amble / All over the map." Prelutsky's biological inventions are as  clever as they are silly, and it's wonderful that kids are allowed to figure out  the hybrid themselves in Rhinocerose, Cardinalbacore, etc. Prelutsky's glee is  contagious, and kids will get a kick out of the wordplay in poems like "Oh Sleek  Bananaconda": "You slither on your belly, / And you slither on your chin. /  You're only unappealing / As you shed your slinky skin." Pronunciation guides  for each creature garnish each page, in case you can't pronounce Toucanemones  right off the bat, and an iconic guide to the island's animals adorns the table  of contents page. Gorgeous endpapers reveal Sís's map of Scranimal Island and  its curious denizens. It's impossible to pick a favorite, between the  unbelievably cute Pandaffodil and the detested Radishark. Highly recommended.  (Ages 6 to 10)--Karin Snelson--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.