Prelutsky, Jack 1940–

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Prelutsky, Jack 1940–

Personal

Born September 8, 1940, in Brooklyn, NY; son of Charles (an electrician) and Dorothea (a homemaker; maiden name, Weiss) Prelutsky; married; wife's name, Carolynn, 1979. Education: Attended Hunter College (now of the City University of New York); studied voice at several music schools. Hobbies and other interests: Making plastic and metal sculptures, bicycling, inventing word games, collecting books and model frogs.

Addresses

Home—WA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Greenwillow Books, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

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Career

Poet and singer. Worked variously as a cab driver, busboy, actor, photographer, furniture mover, potter, sculptor, day laborer, waiter, carpenter, clerk, bookseller, and door-to-door salesman.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

A Gopher in the Garden, and Other Animal Poems (also see below), illustrated by Robert Leydenfrost, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1967.

Lazy Blackbird, and Other Verses, illustrated by Janosch, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1969.

The Terrible Tiger, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1970.

Toucans Two, and Other Poems (also see below), illustrated by José Aruego, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1970, published as Zoo Doings and Other Poems, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1971.

Circus!, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

The Pack Rat's Day, and Other Poems (also see below), illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1974.

Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1976.

It's Halloween, illustrated by Marylin Hafner, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1977.

The Snopp on the Sidewalk and Other Poems (also see below), illustrated by Byron Barton, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1977.

The Mean Old Mean Hyena, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

The Queen of Eene (also see below), illustrated by Victoria Chess, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1978.

Rolling Harvey down the Hill (also see below), illustrated by Victoria Chess, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1980.

The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight: More Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1980.

Rainy, Rainy Saturday, illustrated by Marylin Hafner, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1980.

(Adapter) Barbro Lindgren, The Wild Baby, illustrated by Eva Eriksson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1981.

It's Christmas, illustrated by Marylin Hafner, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1981.

The Sheriff of Rottenshot: Poems, illustrated by Victoria Chess, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1982.

Kermit's Garden of Verses, illustrated by Bruce McNally, Random House (New York, NY), 1982.

It's Thanksgiving, illustrated by Marylin Hafner, Green-willow (New York, NY), 1982.

The Baby Uggs Are Hatching, illustrated by James Stevenson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1982.

Zoo Doings: Animal Poems (includes A Gopher in the Garden and Other Animal Poems, Toucans Two and Other Poems, and The Pack Rat's Day and Other Poems), illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

It's Valentine's Day, illustrated by Yossi Abolafia, Green-willow (New York, NY), 1983.

(Adapter) Barbro Lindgren, The Wild Baby Goes to Sea, illustrated by Eva Eriksson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1983.

(Compiler and editor) The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Random House (New York, NY), 1983.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!, illustrated by Jeanne Titherington, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1984.

What I Did Last Summer, illustrated by Yossi Abolafia, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1984.

The New Kid on the Block, illustrated by James Stevenson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1984.

My Parents Think I'm Sleeping, illustrated by Yossi Abolafia, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1985.

(Adapter) Barbro Lindgren, The Wild Baby Gets a Puppy, illustrated by Eva Eriksson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1985.

Ride a Purple Pelican, illustrated by Garth Williams, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1986.

(Adapter) Rose Lagercrantz and Samuel Lagercrantz, Brave Little Pete of Geranium Street, illustrated by Eva Eriksson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1986.

(Compiler and editor) Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, illustrated by Marc Brown, Knopf (New York, NY), 1986.

Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast: Dinosaur Poems, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1988.

(Compiler and editor) Poems of A. Nonny Mouse, illustrated by Henrik Drescher, Knopf (New York, NY), 1989.

Beneath a Blue Umbrella, illustrated by Garth Williams, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1990.

Something Big Has Been Here, illustrated by James Stevenson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1990.

(Compiler and editor) For Laughing out Loud, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, Knopf (New York, NY), 1991.

Twickham Tweer (from The Sheriff of Rottenshot), illustrated by Eldon Doty, DLM, 1991.

There'll Be a Slight Delay: And Other Poems for GrownUps, illustrated by Jack Ziegler, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.

Sweet and Silly Muppet Poems, illustrated by Joe Ewers, Western, 1992.

The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, illustrated by Peter Sis, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1993.

(Compiler and editor) A. Nonny Mouse Writes Again!, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, Knopf (New York, NY), 1993.

(Compiler and editor) For Laughing out Louder: More Poems to Tickle Your Funnybone, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, Knopf (New York, NY), 1995.

Monday's Troll, illustrated by Peter Sis, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1996.

A Pizza the Size of the Sun, illustrated by James Stevenson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1996.

(Compiler and editor) Beauty of the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom, illustrated by Mielo So, Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

(Compiler and editor) Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie): Favorite Poems by Dennis Lee, illustrated by Debbie Tilley, Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

(Compiler and editor) Imagine That: The Poems of Never-Was, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, Random House (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Dr. Seuss) Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, illustrated by Lane Smith, Knopf (New York, NY), 1998.

(Compiler and editor) The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, illustrated by Mielo So, Knopf (New York, NY), 1999.

The Gargoyle on the Roof, illustrated by Peter Sis, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1999.

Dog Days: Rhymes around the Year, illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott, Knopf (New York, NY), 1999.

Awful Ogre's Awful Day, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2000.

It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, illustrated by James Stevenson, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2000.

The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders: Rhymes, illustrated by Petra Mathers, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2002.

Scranimals, illustrated by Peter Sis, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2002.

Halloween Countdown, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino, HarperFestival (New York, NY), 2002.

Wild Witches' Ball, illustrated by Kelly Asbury, Harper-Festival (New York, NY), 2004.

If Not for the Cat: Haiku, illustrated by Ted Rand, Green-willow (New York, NY), 2004.

(Compiler) Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, illustrated by Meilo So, Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

What a Day It Was at School!, illustrated by Doug Cushman, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2006.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!: Winter Poems, illustrated by Yossi Abolafia, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems, illustrated by Carin Berger, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2006.

Me I Am!, illustrated by Christine Davenier, Farrar, Straus & Giroux (New York, NY), 2007.

In Old Giraffe's Green Garden: Rhymes, illustrated by Petra Mathers, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2007.

Archives of Prelutsky's work are kept in the University of Southern Mississippi's De Grummond Collection and the University of Minnesota's Kerlan Collection.

TRANSLATOR

Rudolf Neumann, The Bad Bear, illustrated by Eva Johanna Rubin, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1967.

Heinrich Hoffman, The Mountain Bounder, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1967.

No End of Nonsense: Humorous Verses, illustrated by Wilfried Blecher, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1968.

Three Saxon Nobles and Other Verses, illustrated by Eva Johanna Rubin, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1969.

James Kruess, The Proud Wooden Drummer, illustrated by Eva Johanna Rubin, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1969.

Stefania Maria De Kennessey, Jumping Jacks: Six Humorous Songs, Hildegard Publishing, 1994.

Adaptations

Many of Prelutsky's books have been adapted for audio cassette, including: Nightmares and Other Poems to Trouble Your Sleep, Children's Books and Music, 1985; It's Thanksgiving, Listening Library, 1985; The New Kid on the Block, Listening Library, 1986; It's Halloween, Scholastic, 1987; It's Christmas, Scholastic, 1987; Ride a Purple Pelican, Listening Library, 1988; Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young, Knopf (New York, NY), 1988; It's Valentine's Day, Scholastic, 1988; Something Big Has Been Here, Listening Library, 1991; Jack Prelutsky's Big Collection, Listening Library, 2000; and Rainy, Rainy Saturday, Random House. Collections of Prelutsky's holiday verses were recorded as The Jack Prelutsky Holiday Audio Collection, HarperChildren's Audio, 2005. Prelutsky's poems have been included in Graveyard Tales (record), NAPPS; and People, Animals, and Other Monsters (record; cassette; includes poems from The Snopp on the Sidewalk, The Queen of Eene, Rolling Harvey down the Hill, The Pack-Rat's Day, A Gopher in the Garden, and Toucans Two and Other Poems), Caedmon. The New Kid on the Block was developed as an animated computer program by Random House, 1993.

Sidelights

Dubbed the "poet laureate of the prepubescent set" by Booklist reviewer Terry Glover, Jack Prelutsky is a writer, musician, and editor who has produced a long
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list of engaging books, among them Scranimals, The New Kid on the Block, Beneath a Blue Umbrella, and Awful Ogre's Awful Day. Also a musician Prelutsky has frequently combined writing and performing, making him one of the most popular entertainers for young audiences in the United States. According to Dictionary of Literary Biography contributor Anita Trout, "contemporary poets such as Jack Prelutsky restore the fun and fascination in the study of the English language and its rhythmic patterns."

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Prelutsky was a gifted and restless child whose intelligence made it difficult for him to conform to the undemanding expectations of public school. His overactive mind also made it hard for his mother and teachers to manage him. "In those days," Prelutsky recalled in Early Years, "schools and parents didn't have the knowledge, the machinery or the experience to handle kids like me." However, it soon became clear that this boy with behavior problems also had a rare talent: a magnificent singing voice.

Prelutsky's talent was obvious by age ten, and he was sometimes hired to sing at weddings and other special occasions. The choirmaster of New York's Metropolitan Opera considered the boy so gifted that he gave Prelutsky free opera singing lessons. As a teen, the promising vocalist attended New York City's High School of Music and Art, where he also studied piano and graduated in 1958.

Prelutsky seemed on his way to an operatic career until he heard a performance by world-renowned vocalist Luciano Pavarotti. "I knew I could never compete with him…. I didn't have the fire in the belly," the writer recalled in Early Years. Casting about for a suitable profession, he gained enough expertise in photography to earn a living and even exhibit some of his work. He then undertook a series of manual labor jobs, such as carpentry and furniture moving, as well as occupations like cab driver, bookseller, and clerk.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Prelutsky dropped out of the working world and tried the life of a beatnik by bumming around the country and earning a living playing his guitar and singing. He also made pottery and tried his hand at sculpting and collage. One day, while working in a coffeehouse in New York's Greenwich Village, Prelutsky met and became friends with musician Bob Dylan. They shared a common love of folk music and admired each other's performing abilities.

Prelutsky felt he was meant to be an artist, but he was not sure if folk singing was his destiny, so he also decided to try drawing. Using ink and watercolors, he labored for six months on drawing two dozen animals, fanciful creations drawn wholly from his imagination, with no basis in mythology or literature. On an impulse, he composed short poems to go with each of the animal drawings. When a friend who was a children's book author saw the drawings and poems, Prelutsky was urged to published them.

Making the round of New York publishers, Prelutsky met Macmillan children's-book editor Susan Hirschman, who was enthusiastic, although not in the way Prelutsky had anticipated. In School Library Journal Prelutsky later recalled the first impression he made on his future editor: "I was twenty-three, an enfant terrible who probably weighed 130 pounds. I had a beard and unwashed hair, but Susan was incredibly gracious. She sat me down and began to read, and then she said, 'Well, you're very talented and we'd like to publish you.' I was stunned. 'You mean you like my drawings?' I asked her, and she said, 'Oh, no! You're the worst artist I've ever seen. But you have a natural gift here.'"

In writing for children, Prelutsky approaches his verse in a way that excites children. When he was a boy poetry seemed terribly dull and had no relevance to the real world. As he notes in his introduction to The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, children do not have a natural aversion to verse. "For very young children, responding to poetry is as natural as breathing. Even before they can speak, most babies delight in the playful cadences of nursery rhymes and the soothing rhythms of lullabies…. Poetry is as delightful and surprising as being tickled or catching a snowflake on a mitten…. But then something happens…. At some point … many children seem to lose their interest and enthusiasm for poetry and their easygoing pleasure in its sounds and images. They begin to find poetry boring and irrelevant, too difficult or too dull to bother with."

Prelutsky hopes never to talk down to children, nor to create lifeless, uninvolving verse. The key, he has discovered, is to write verses children can relate to and that are presented in an interesting manner. Trout commented that "Prelutsky's poetry features animals and fantastic beasts which behave in inventive ways. He also writes of people and problems familiar to youngsters: dealing with the neighborhood bully, going to school, and being afraid of the dark. Writing most frequently in traditional poetic forms, he employs puns, alliteration, and word play in ways which have caused him to be ranked among the masters of contemporary verse for children." If Not for the Cat: Haiku experiments with brevity by giving voice to an animal whose identity is couched in a riddle; the solution is easily accessible in the pen-and-ink illustrations by Ted Rand. In Kirkus Reviews a writer predicted that the work would become a "storytime favorite," while Jennifer M. Brabander commented in Horn Book that the "poems … use words that convey meaning through both sense and sound." In Publishers Weekly a contributor wrote that, "deceptive in their simplicity," Prelutsky's seventeen haiku riddles "will send aspiring wordsmiths off to try their own."

According to Trout, Prelutsky's "primary fascination for children seems to be his macabre delight in the darker side of fantasy and human nature." Several of his many verse collections feature monsters or other frightening creatures that often turn out to be friendly, or are presented with such exaggeration that they become humorous. The poet also recognizes that an occasional fright can be fun and exciting; in books like Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep and Wild Witches' Ball, the verses are designed to cause a "shivery delight for the young reader," said Trout. Another scary work, Awful Ogre's Awful Day follows the title character and his questionable habits from dawn to bedtime in eighteen verses. Citing some "unintentionally revolting details" regarding Ogre's behavior, Marighy Dupuy warned in the New York Times Book Review that although the book may not be for every child, Prelusky's poems are "charming in their upside-down irreverence," such as in the scene when Ogre curls up for bed with his cactus and his vulture and "dutifully says goodnight to all he loves: silent vipers, tiny parasites, furtive spiders, loathsome vermin, lowly rodents, nasty maggots and savage raptors."

With his primary goal to engage and entertain his audience, Prelutsky does not try to write moralistic poetry, or poetry that contains deep, inner truth. Instead, he indulges in nonsense verse that aims to delight readers through wordplay. The poems in the collections The Sheriff of Rottenshot, It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, and Ride a Purple Pelican offer good examples of verse in which the poet uses repetition, alliteration, and other devices to entertain children. School Library Journal reviewer Judith Constantinides lauded the "impeccable rhythms and rhymes" in It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, noting that they "strongly appeal to a child's sense of humor." Likewise, Horn Book critic Margaret Bush recognized the work's "silly images, nonsense words and corny punch lines." Playing with geography, the verses in The Frog Wore Red Suspenders feature the author's characteristic "nimble wordplay," according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, while in Horn Book Joanna Rudge Long noted that the collection's "mild humor lies … in Prelutsky's deft use of language," which is "particularly effective shared aloud."

The verbal hijinks continue in Scranimals, a collaboration between Prelutsky and illustrator Peter Sis, dubbed "the meisters of madcap" by a Publishers Weekly contributor. On a visit to Scranimal Island the pair profile the many exotic residents that meld animal and produce, from Camelbarta Peaches who have backs full of canned fruit to the horrid yellow Bananaconda and lumbering green Avocadodos, and the warty Potatoad. "Prelutsky tweaks language with his characteristic glee," the Publishers Weekly contributor added, while in Kirkus Reviews a critic compared the "hilariously inventive" work to the rhymes of nineteenth-century limerick-writer Edward Lear. Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, inspired by notes and sketches left by another great nonsense wordsmith, the late great Dr. Seuss (Theodor Guisel), was a project Dr. Seuss's estate solicited Prelutsky's help with.

In addition to creating his own work, Prelutsky has also translated or adapted the work of other writers, and has edited and compiled numerous volumes of verse, from folk poems to humorous rhymes from around the world. He often adds his own poems to such collections, as in Poems of A. Nonny Mouse and its sequel, A. Nonny Mouse Writes Again!, in which anonymous poems from around the world are credited to the rodent of the title. He also gathers poems dealing with imaginary subjects and animals, as in Imagine That: Poems of Never-Was and Beauty of the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom. Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme inspires young writers by including ten "poemstarts," a Prelutsky cre-ation consisting of the first few lines of a poem that end with a line begging for completion. Describing the work as a "poetry primer," a Publishers Weekly writer called Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme a work that "will have children eager to play with words." Additionally, Prelutsky has also put together several anthologies, such as The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, a collection of two hundred verses.

Prelutsky's emphasis on the sounds of words make his verses most effective when read aloud; in fact, he has recorded several of his books while featuring a guitar accompaniment. Every year, Prelutsky spends several weeks traveling and visiting schools, where he tells stories, performs songs, and recites poetry. As he remarked in Children's Literature in Education: "Until I started visiting schools, I tended to work in a sort of vacuum, never really knowing how my books were received by the only really important audience—the children. Book reviews are, of course, important," but "it's the children that really matter."

Biographical and Critical Sources

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 13, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1987.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 61: American Writers for Children since 1960: Poets, Illustrators, and Nonfiction Authors, Thomson Gale (Detroit, MI), 1987, pp. 242-247.

Kirkpatrick, D.L., editor, Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, 2nd edition, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1983.

Norton, Donna E., editor, Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature, Merrill, 1983, pp. 322-323.

Prelutsky, Jack, Awful Ogre's Awful Day, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2000.

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, introduction by Jack Prelutsky, Random House (New York, NY), 1983, pp. 18-19.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1984, Betsy Hearne, review of The New Kid on the Block, p. 310; March 15, 1991, Bill Ott, review of Something Big Has Been Here, p. 1488; May 1, 1999, Michael Cart, review of Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!, p. 1532; December 15, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, p. 783; November 1, 2000, Hazel Rochman, review of It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, p. 544; October 15, 2001, Hazel Rochman, review of Awful Ogre's Awful Day, p. 398; March 15, 2002, Hazel Rochman, review of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders: Rhymes, p. 1260; September 15, 2002, Gillian Engberg, review of Scranimals, p. 237; August, 2004, Terry Gover, review of Wild Witches' Ball, p. 1944; October 1, 2004, Carolyn Phelan, review of If Not for the Cat: Haiku, p. 336; January 1, 2006, Hazel Rochman, review of It's Snowing! It's Snowing!: Winter Poems, p. 106.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March, 1996, Deborah Stevenson, review of Monday's Troll, pp. 217-218.

Children's Literature in Education, Volume 11, number 3, 1980, Betty Miles, editor, "When Writers Visit Schools: A Symposium," pp. 133, 135-136.

Early Years, November-December, 1986, Raymond Allen, "Jack Prelutsky … Man of Many Talents," pp. 38, 40-42.

Horn Book, December, 1967, Virginia Haviland, review of A Gopher in the Garden, p. 744; August, 1970; April, 1971; August, 1974; December, 1974; October, 1976, Paul Heins, review of Nightmares, pp. 513-14; October, 1977; April, 1978; June, 1978, October, 1980; October, 1982; September-October, 1984; January-February, 1986; January-February, 1987; September-October, 1988; January-February, 1990; September-October, 1993, Mary M. Burns, review of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, p. 615; May-June, 1996, Ann A. Flowers, review of Monday's Troll, p. 345; November, 2000, Margaret Bush, review of It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, p. 766; September, 2001, review of Awful Ogre's Awful Day, p. 607; March-April, 2002, Joanna Rudge Long, review of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, p. 225; November-December, 2004, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of If Not for the Cat, p. 723.

Juvenile Miscellany, summer, 1985.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1967, review of A Gopher in the Garden, p. 805; June 15, 1976, review of Nightmares, p. 690; September 1, 1984, review of The New Kid on the Block, p. 76; January 15, 2002, review of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, p. 107; July 15, 2002, review of Scranimals, p. 1042; September 15, 2004, review of If Not for the Cat, p. 917; October 1, 2005, review of Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, p. 1986; February 15, 2006, review of It's Snowing! It's Snowing!, p. 190.

Lion and the Unicorn, winter, 1980–81.

New York Times Book Review, June 2, 1996, p. 25; November 16, 1997, p. 36; May 31, 1998, p. 40; November 21, 1999, p. 46; January 16, 2000, p. 27; November 18, 2001, Marighy Dupuy, "Things That Go Bump, Growl, and Glubita," p. 37.

Publishers Weekly, March 2, 1970, review of The Terrible Tiger, p. 82; July 29, 1988; October 11, 1993, review of The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, p. 88; June 24, 1996, review of A Pizza the Size of the Sun; February 9, 1998, p. 24; February 16, 1998, p. 21; July 13, p. 77; July 5, 1999, review of The Gargoyle on the Roof, p. 71; August 23, 1999, p. 57; October 4, p. 72; February 7, 2000, p. 41; November 26, 2001, review of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, p. 61; June 24, 2002, review of Scranimals, p. 54; October 18, 2004, review of If Not for the Cat, p. 62; August 29. 2005, review of Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, p. 58; June 12, 2006, review of What a Day It Was at School!, p. 52.

School Library Journal, November, 1984, Judy Greenfield, review of The New Kid on the Block, p. 127; September, 1996, p. 219; April, 1997, p. 41; January, 1998, p. 104; June, 1998, p. 121; November, 1998, p. 108; October, 1999, p. 141; December, 1999, p. 125; November, 2000, Judith Constantinides, review of It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, p. 148; January, 2001, p. 20; July, 2001, Kathleen Horning, "The Editor Who Discovered the Stars," p. 36; September, 2001, Lisa Gangemin Krapp, review of Awful Ogre's Awful Day, p. 220; February, 2002, Lauralyn Persson, review of The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, p. 126; September, 2002, Nina Lindsay, review of Scranimals, p. 217; October, 2002, Hannah Hoppe, review of Halloween Countdown, p. 126; June, 2004, Steven Engelfried, review of Scranimals, p. 58; August, 2004, Susan Weitz, review of Wild Witches' Ball, p. 92; October, 2004, Kathleen Whalin, review of If Not for the Cat, p. 147; June, 2005, Steven Engelfried, review of It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, p. 56; November, 2005, Marilyn Taniguchi, review of Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, p. 120.