Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast: And Other Tasty Poems

by Jack Prelutsky (Author) Ruth Chan (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
A new collection from the celebrated first Young People's Poet Laureate and bestselling poet Jack Prelutsky, featuring more than one hundred original poems! Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast is guaranteed to make readers laugh, imagine, write, and dream. From a lizard playing a mandolin (although not very well) to the surprised guest of honor (at a birthday party he threw for himself), there's something for everyone in Jack Prelutsky's Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast. Illustrator Ruth Chan's lively and hilarious black-and-white art jumps off the page and illuminates a wide array of poetic forms, from haiku to concrete poems and everything in between. This collection is full of the wit, humor, and imagination that has made Jack Prelutsky a household name and one of the most beloved poets for children. His poetry books for kids include such favorites as A Pizza the Size of the Sun and The New Kid on the Block. Includes black-and-white line art on every page, plus an index.
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Paperback
$9.99

Kirkus Reviews

Starred Review
"What do pandas who make stir-fry, a bike with no pedals, New Year's resolutions, and perturbed vegetables have in common? Not much, but they sure are a hoot! . . . With steady rhymes and consistent meter, Prelutsky employs his characteristic wordplay, humor, and absurdism. . . . Chan's grayscale cartoons . . . add wry amusement and often enhance the poems' textual meanings. . . . A quick-witted delight."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

U.S. children's poet laureate emeritus Prelutsky delivers his signature silliness and wordplay in this collection of 100 poems marked by the strong kid appeal and energetic pace that makes the prolific poet's work immediately recognizable. Prelutsky is reliably playful, whether he's describing disgusting food choices, as in the title poem ("Hard boiled bugs are tastier/ than spiders, flies, or slugs"); expressing schoolchildren's universal wish (skipping school) in "I've Got a Cold," which calls to mind Shel Silverstein's "Sick"; or making up creatures such as "The Bumblebeet" (which "surely is not good to eat"). He occasionally interrupts the goofiness with a gentler poem, such as the cleverly rhymed "The Leaves Are Drifting" and "We Are the Oceans," which provides a rare serious note, paying homage to the interconnectedness of Earth's denizens. With their rhythmic meter, easy rhymes, and offbeat punch lines, these are poems that beg to be memorized. Lively black-and-white drawings (one for a poem entitled "My Nose" depicts a foot in place of the orifice) by Chan (The Great Indoors) are perfectly in pitch with the droll verse. Ages 8-up. (Jan.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 3-7—Prelutsky's new poetry collection is a gift to the ears and eyes. Written in a variety of rhyme schemes, the poems describe feelings, unusual beasts, and monsters (the lazy slothrush, the confused niddlenudds, the wazawa). Black-and-white cartoon drawings accompany each poem and bring the words—both comical and descriptive—to life. Prelutsky is a master of humor and poetic device. The imagery throughout is interesting and clever: a garden of glowing electric light bulbs; a musical octopus octet; giant bubble gum bubbles that lift a child off the ground. Puns are another device featured in the text. Some poems include a phonetic representation of a creature's name to help with pronunciation. The book could be used to spark ideas for a school poetry assignment. VERDICT A well-written, must-have collection of poems.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker P.L., OH

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"What do pandas who make stir-fry, a bike with no pedals, New Year's resolutions, and perturbed vegetables have in common? Not much, but they sure are a hoot! . . . With steady rhymes and consistent meter, Prelutsky employs his characteristic wordplay, humor, and absurdism. . . . Chan's grayscale cartoons . . . add wry amusement and often enhance the poems' textual meanings. . . . A quick-witted delight."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780063019133
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Greenwillow Books
Publication date
January 20, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV070000 - Juvenile Fiction | Poetry (see also Stories in Verse)
Library of Congress categories
American poetry
Children's poetry, American
Poetry

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