Description
Book SynopsisCommon Critters celebrates neighborhood wildlife in verse. A familiar cast of charactersworms, slugs, caterpillars, ladybugs, robins, mourning doves, houseflies, spiders, squirrels, skunks, and otherscrawls, runs, buzzes, and flits through these lively poems, which show how exotic these seemingly ordinary creatures really are.
Trade Review"Creatures receive their charming due in this bouncy collection of brief rhymes. The poems read and generally scan very well; each critter is the star of its own verse. Educators and parents will appreciate that the poems also provide interesting, easily digestible nuggets of scientific information. Delightful watercolor-and-ink cartoons add uncommon whimsy throughout and feature lush surroundings, shown additionally in lovely opening and closing spreads.
An uncommon introduction to poetry. " -- Kirkus Reviews
"
Superlative back matter elevates this illustrated collection of jokey poems celebrating neighborhood wildlife: “There are creatures all around you,/ not exotic, but not tame./ Though most are pretty common,/ they’re intriguing just the same.” Each critter gets its own poem on a spread illustrated with Tavis’s artful landscapes and goofily goggle-eyed wildlife. Brisson’s wordplay ranges from obvious ha-has (of crows: “And could this fact be much absurder?/ A group of you is called a murder!”) to sophisticated lines (of caterpillars: “It follows metamorphic urges/ to break out, and what emerges/ is a moth or butterfly/ that dries its wings and starts to fly”). A “Facts About Common Critters” section offers more information about the featured creatures (“A squirrel will crack open a nut and rub it on its face before burying it”) alongside a brief discussion of artistic license, while “A Peek into the Poet’s Toolkit” uses the poems to explain rhyme, meter, stanza, and poetic license." -- PW
"The poems are light and fun, while the entertaining illustrations will draw in readers." -- Susan Lissim, Dwight School, NYC - School Library Journal
