mammalabilia
Douglas Florian--creator ofInsectlopedia,In the Swim, and other poetic tributes to creatures great and small--turns his unbounded talent for wordplay and shameless punnery to the order of mammals inMammalabilia. We'll let "The Aardvarks" speak for itself:Aardvarks aare odd.Aardvarks aare staark.Aardvarks look betterBy faar in the daark.Twenty-one short, original poems and splendid paintings celebrate (or jovially mock) animals from giraffes ("Rubber necker/ Double-decker/ Cloud-checker/ Star-trekker") to porcupines. The illustrations--painted in gouache on primed brown paper bags--are as tongue-in-cheek as his words; the coyote howls with visible "o's," the otter bathes in a claw-foot tub reading a book called "H20," and the rhebok is sporting sneakers. A pure pleasure for poetry fans and animal lovers alike,Mammalabiliais a welcome addition to the Florian fold. (All ages)--Karin Snelson--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.