How Elegant the Elephant: Poems About Animals and Insects
by Mary Ann Hoberman
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"An alphabetized collection of poems about animals and insects"--Tags
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https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/16/31-days-31-lists-2025-poetry-books-f...
"From the bandicoot to the trilobite, delve deep into a delightful array of animal poems and poetry. And the hits just keep on coming. And to be perfectly frank there is NO reason why this book is as good as it is. By definition books that are compendiums of previous poems by a single author are almost never great....they usually lack that kind of cohesion you need for a really good collection. The genius...of this book is the overarching idea that these animals are all checking into the same hotel. Marla Frazee, at the top of her game, then manages to weave it all together into a single miraculous entity." -Betsy Bird
The zebra concierge, the squirrel show more porters, the elephant eating poolside...truly lovely and amusing illustrations. show less
"From the bandicoot to the trilobite, delve deep into a delightful array of animal poems and poetry. And the hits just keep on coming. And to be perfectly frank there is NO reason why this book is as good as it is. By definition books that are compendiums of previous poems by a single author are almost never great....they usually lack that kind of cohesion you need for a really good collection. The genius...of this book is the overarching idea that these animals are all checking into the same hotel. Marla Frazee, at the top of her game, then manages to weave it all together into a single miraculous entity." -Betsy Bird
The zebra concierge, the squirrel show more porters, the elephant eating poolside...truly lovely and amusing illustrations. show less
First sentence: Abracadabra
The zebra is black
Abracadabra
The zebra is white
Abracadabra
The zebra is dark
Abracadabra
The zebra is light
Is it black striped with white?
Is it white striped with black?
Is it striped from the front?
Is it striped from the back?
Abracadabra
It's ink over snow
Abracadabra
It's snow over ink
Abracadabra
Does anyone know?
Abracadabra
What do you think?
Premise/plot: Mary Ann Hoberman has selected the poems for this poetry collection. The theme is animals and insects. She is sharing her favorites from her previous books of poetry...poetry books that have since gone out of print.
Quotes:
How Elegant the Elephant
How elegant the elephant
How mighty yet how mild
How elegant its mighty mate
How elegant it's child
How toothsome are show more its ivory tusks
How luminous its eyes
How supple are its floppy ears
How jumbo is its size
How flexible its pudgy knees
How delicate its tail
But best of all
How nice its nose
Which works just like
A garden hose
My thoughts: Poetry is typically hit or miss for me. I definitely enjoyed a handful of these poems. I liked the variety of the poems included. Any reader is likely to find at least a couple that delight. Reading is subjective by its very nature; a reader's taste in poetry is perhaps even more subjective.
Besides the elephant poem quoted above, I also enjoyed "Monkey Business" and "Sheep Counting." show less
The zebra is black
Abracadabra
The zebra is white
Abracadabra
The zebra is dark
Abracadabra
The zebra is light
Is it black striped with white?
Is it white striped with black?
Is it striped from the front?
Is it striped from the back?
Abracadabra
It's ink over snow
Abracadabra
It's snow over ink
Abracadabra
Does anyone know?
Abracadabra
What do you think?
Premise/plot: Mary Ann Hoberman has selected the poems for this poetry collection. The theme is animals and insects. She is sharing her favorites from her previous books of poetry...poetry books that have since gone out of print.
Quotes:
How Elegant the Elephant
How elegant the elephant
How mighty yet how mild
How elegant its mighty mate
How elegant it's child
How toothsome are show more its ivory tusks
How luminous its eyes
How supple are its floppy ears
How jumbo is its size
How flexible its pudgy knees
How delicate its tail
But best of all
How nice its nose
Which works just like
A garden hose
My thoughts: Poetry is typically hit or miss for me. I definitely enjoyed a handful of these poems. I liked the variety of the poems included. Any reader is likely to find at least a couple that delight. Reading is subjective by its very nature; a reader's taste in poetry is perhaps even more subjective.
Besides the elephant poem quoted above, I also enjoyed "Monkey Business" and "Sheep Counting." show less
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