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Summary
Summary
From a team of luminaries comes this collection of truly delightful verse for the littlest listeners.
Translated from the original works of beloved Danish poet Halfdan Rasmussen, this delightful collection of poems for young children will enthrall little ones with captivating rhyme, rhythm, humor, and charm. Kevin Hawkes's enchanting, light-filled illustrations bring the text to life, making this an essential addition to any child's library of modern classics.
Author Notes
Halfdan Rasmussen is the late author of The Ladder . He is highly respected in his native Denmark for both his children's verse and his adult-oriented poems on social issues and human rights. Prior to his death in 2002, he granted Marilyn Nelson express permission to produce English versions of his works.
Marilyn Nelson is an award-winning author and poet for adults and children. The recipient of two Newbery Honors, a Michael L. Printz Honor, and many other top accolades, she is also a former poet laureate of Connecticut. Marilyn Nelson lives in New York.
Pamela Espeland has authored, coauthored, or edited more than two hundred books on a variety of subjects. She lives in Minneapolis.
Kevin Hawkes is the illustrator of the New York Times best-selling Library Lion as well as many other award-winning books for children, including Weslandia; Sidewalk Circus; Handel, Who Knew What He Liked; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. Kevin Hawkes lives in Gorham, Maine.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Rasmussen (1915-2002) was a well-known Danish author who wrote 16 volumes of poetry for children. The translators of the 13 poems in this collection have done such an artful job that it is hard to believe the selections were not originally written in English. They sound very much like old English nursery rhymes, with almost flawless rhyme and meter. The quaint poems have liberal helpings of both wit and whimsy and an occasional sprinkling of mild potty humor. "A ball bounced high into the air/A curious frog sat up to stare./He thought, 'A miracle! How neat!/It hops, but it ain't got feet!'" Many of them, like "What Things Are For," deal with children's antics, while others, like "Little Cloud," have a nature theme. The shorter poems appear one to a page, while the longer ones take up a spread. All are printed in a large, easy-to-read font. To match their old-fashioned tone, Hawkes uses a pastel palette with subtle shading and texture. Some illustrations take up a full page, while others fill the white space around the text. The whole has an uncluttered and inviting effect. Likely to become a classic, this is a great addition to any picture-book collection.-Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Delivered with a nursery rhyme lilt, this collection of poems from the late Rasmussen is characterized by a whimsical and gently irreverent perspective. "You can pat my goldfish's hair/ for an apple/ that's polished just right," offers the owner of a lion sleeping with one eye open. "But if you want/ to pat my lion,/ just promise/ you'll pat it real light!" When a sheepish little cloud goes for a walk and can't hold it anymore, it "Let it drip down on the road,/ knew that it was naughty," as two children in rubber boots observe from the ground below. Hawkes's acrylic and charcoal illustrations-from the diminutive couple who live in "Littlebittyland" to a "strange old owl" perched at his writing desk-echo Rasmussen's joyful, quirky spirit. Ages 2-6. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Danish poet Rasmussen may be well known and beloved in his native land, but he is virtually unknown to American children, and that's too bad, as he has much in common with Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, albeit for a slightly younger audience. Thirteen of his children's poems are included in this collection, and while it's not the first time Nelson and Espeland have translated his poetry (Hundreds of Hens and Other Poems for Children), it is the first time their translations have been made widely available. Elves, animals, friendship, and bodily functions are common subjects here ("Tiptoes to snoop on, / and potties to poop on!" -- "What Things Are For"). Most of the selections aren't more than a few stanzas long, but each one hits you with a bright burst of humor that's like a sip of a fizzy drink on a hot day. While the absurd characters and the situations will elicit laughter, most of the humor comes from the way the language sounds as Nelson and Espeland find just the right combinations of words and meaning, and still manage to surprise us. We can only marvel at the fact that they are translating the words of another poet. Hawkes's pencil and acrylic illustrations highlight the humor and the whimsy of the nonsense verses, but they also underscore the poems' innocence and childlike dignity when called for, and the artist gets the mix exactly right. kathleen t. horning (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A charming collection of poems finds an American audience in a splendid translation.Though unknown to the vast majority of American readers, Rasmussen (1915-2002) was a beloved Danish poet, known both for his human-rights writings as well as nonsense verse for children. A sweet compendium of the latter is translated here by the award-winning Nelson and Espeland and animated by Hawkes' dynamic, colorful acrylic-and-pencil renderings, effectively capturing the playfulness of Rasmussen's verse in both sound and image. As he explores life's many processes, activities and imagined situations, Rasmussen's delightfully warped sense of humor is in full view. It ranges from potty humor"Feet are to jump on, / drums are to thump on. / Tiptoes to snoop on, / and potties to poop on!"to outright silliness"The elf puts on his winter coat [...] and then, before he goes, / puts on an empty ice-cream cone / to insulate his nose." But the poet also does not shy away from more serious subjects, such as the cultivation of friendships, using a light touch to convey his pacifist message: "Those fierce grown-up soldiers / who shoot guns and fight / should learn from us children / to fight a war right. / First, fight with toy guns. / Then, if your war won't end, / you tickle your enemy / into a friend!"Children of all ages will be charmed by this collection that demonstrates that poet-translators often make the best ambassadors.(Picture book/poetry. 3-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Knees are to crawl on / bottoms to fall on / Sleds are to slide on / ponies to ride on. The sounds of the words are as much fun as the meaning and movements in these 13 nonsense poems translated from the Danish and illustrated by Hawkes' acrylic and charcoal-pencil pictures that capture the silliness along with the innocence of looking at things for the first time. As with Mother Goose rhymes, toddlers will want to chant the words over and over again ( A little bitty man / bought a little bitty house / for a little bitty money ). And they will delight in the hilarious images, such as the elf dressed for winter in hat and muffler, with an empty ice-cream cone to insulate his long nose, and the frog, who is amazed at the miracle of a bouncing ball ( It hops, but it ain't got feet ). Then there is the little cloud that couldn't hold it anymore and didn't have a potty. Sure to be a popular readaloud.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2010 Booklist