Edward Koren (1935–2023)

The poems in this book are reminiscent of but less refined than the works of Shel Silverstein. While Silverstein's work appeals to all ages, the ones by Katz seem exclusive to younger audiences. The illustrations are black and white, with a bit of a "messy" or "rough" appearance, but do elevate the work.

This is a collection of poems that is silly and fun and sure to draw readers in immediately upon reading the very first poem, where the character feels a strong spring breeze realizing he forgot his pants. The illustrations are simple ink line drawings. They are whimsical and realistic and delightful to the readers aesthetic. The tone of the collection is informal, conversational making it easy for the reader to relate to the characters in the poem, whether it is a baseball player who show more strikes out, a child in trouble for bad behavior, or a person ill dressed for the weather. This would be a great addition to a poetry unit or for a classroom to make poetry more accessible to the students. show less

Okay, once again just to make sure we're all on the same page: do not give your book a title that can be used against you in a review. You would think editors would be the first to understand the rules of making a book review-proof. Of course, it's also a good idea to make sure the content followed the same rules, not just the title.

Katz is no Shel Silverstein (he's not even Jack Prelutsky), but so much about this book feels like that's what the guilty parties were trying for. This 179 pages show more of short, silly poetry accompanied by line drawings is squarely aimed at those who have worn out their copies of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "It's Raining Pigs and Noodles."

All the usual topics are covered -- too much TV, failing grades, turns of phrases, wordplay -- but so much of it falls flat. Rhymes and near-rhymes have the feel of having being culled from a reference book with the rest of the poem built awkwardly around them. There are ways to break the meter within a poem, and then there are just broken feet. And some of these poems seemed designed to deliver a punchline but don't have the substance to prop them up. I think there's a picture-book's-worth of poems here that are good -- maybe a couple dozen or so -- and the rest reads like contractual filler.

I know kids in their poetry phase can't ever get enough of the humorous verse, and this will easily break up the monotony of rereading the same six or seven books for this crowd, but I don't suspect it will get the same level of repeat readings.

Question: where are the women poets who write volumes of humorous poetry? Is nonsense considered the province of male poets, and is this why boys stop reading poetry? show less

I liked this book. I really liked the playful language choice throughout the story "up, up the staircase it whirred and it whined with all of the monsters galumphing behind. It whizzed out the window. It whooshed to the sky. Bye-bye file pie!" I believe that the word choice adds a sense of uniqueness and charm that enhances the story. I also liked the illustrations throughout the book. The flies’ wings were the only color used in the entire story all of the other pictures were in black and show more white. This added emphasis to how important the flies were to the monsters. Finally I really liked the plot of this story and how even though the flies flew away the monsters still enjoyed their pie. The main idea of this story is that you should always make the best out of unfortunate situations. show less