Other Books to Read...

           Jack Prelutsky is a children’s author who has been publishing for several decades. He writes almost exclusively in verse, and his books have been illustrated by a variety of visual artists over the years. This will cover three of his books whose publications span the last 27 years, It’s Snowing! It’s Snowing!,  The New Kid on the Block,and The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders. 

            It’s Snowing!  It’s Snowing!  was published in 1984 and is a book of verses themed around northern winters. It uses a variety of rhyme schemes and meters, and is accessible to children without being too grating for adults. The verses are generally positive and upbeat, and are great for reading or singing with preschool aged children. At the same time, they contain simple sentences and structure that can be read with first and second graders, or by average second and third graders.

            The New Kid on the Block is even more comically tinged than It’s Snowing, and is definitely aimed toward the kind of humor enjoyed by third graders. Some of the jokes run a bit thin, the reveal that the new bully on the block is a girl is supposed to be cute somehow, but bullying does not become “funny” simply because it is being done by a girl. Gross out humor features prominently, “with oodles of goo” and an “oozy spoonful of jellyfish stew” (8), as does the mysterious nature of adults and their moods. “I wonder why Dad is so thoroughly mad,” (11) is the only question left for a child who has dismissed bread crumbs in bed, slugs in the hall, and a glued toilet seat as possible reasons for a poor mood. Prelutsky’s love of nonsense words is also evident in the text that introduces us to “Snillies” (25) and “Underwater Wibbles” (17).

         

            Prelutsky’s style is consistent across the decades, but in his 2002 book, The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, we begin to see the kind of illustration that strikes us as “contemporary”. Bright, textured colors have replaced the softer water colors of the previous era. Again, the contents of the texts are cheeky and upbeat. There is no sense of menace or the sinister, and like the bully in New Kid, the worst of childhood is invisible, there is nothing whatsoever to fear. This can make Prelutsky’s writing feel a bit thin, and his books might bore most readers after a certain point. Not because a good mood or a nice story is boring, but because any one note sounded over and over gets a bit tiresome.