Scranimals

Rating:
Summary: Scrambled Safari Fun.....
Review: "We're sailing to Scranimal Island,/It doesn't appear on most maps./The PARROTTERS float on the tide there,/The STORMY PETRELEPHANT flaps./We may find a rare OSTRICHEETAH,/There's never been one in a zoo./We're sailing to Scranimal Island-/You're welcome to come along too." So pack your bags and join a young boy and girl on the safari adventure of a lifetime. It's time to explore an island of never before seen mixed up animals, vegetables, birds, flowers, and sea creatures. Meet the aromatic RHINOSEROSE, the green SPINACHICKENS, lowly POTATOAD, and inert HIPPOPOTAMUSHROOMS. Frolic with the noisy PARROTTERS, and the sweet PORCUPINEAPPLE. Swing through the trees with the MANGORILLA, and ORANGUTANGERINE. Watch a pride of BROCCOLIONS hunting ANTELOPETUNIA for dinner, and cavort in a mountain meadow with a PANDAFFODIL. And don't forget to visit the TOUCANEMONES, RADISHARK, BANANACONDA, poor, extinct AVOCADODOS, and other scrambled creatures living out their days on this magical island..... Jack Prelutsky's creative and inventive "scranimal" poems are filled with rhyme, rhythm, engaging wordplay, humor, and silly puns. Award winning illustrator, Peter Sis' intricately detailed artwork dazzles, and will send imaginations soaring with each page turn. Perfect for youngsters of all ages, Scranimals is a unique and captivating, fun-filled romp, and definitely Prelutsky and Sis at their very best. "We've journeyed to Scranimal Island,/Where magical creatures are found,/Where AVOCADODOS still flourish,/And green SPINACHICKENS abound./We've seen a PANDAFFODIL dining,/A PORCUPINEAPPLE at play./Perhaps there is more to discover-/We'd like to return there someday." We can only hope that day comes very soon.

Rating:
Summary: My children are obsessed with this book
Review: Both of my children are book lovers, but I have never seen them get such delight out of a book as they do with Scranimals. My daughter is 9 and my son is 4.5. They read it over and over and we have constant conversations about which scranimal is our favorite (in the car, at the dinner table, in bed). I take such pleasure in reading this book - the cadence, the rhyming, and the beautiful pictures. This is my new "birthday present of choice". Every child's party we attend in '05 will be with Scranimals wrapped to give. It is not only their favorite, but mine as well.

Rating:
Summary: Strikingly humorous!
Review: Scranimal Island, we are told, does not appear on most maps, which explains why the strange creatures found with these pages are the sorts never seen before by human eyes. I was expecting to find creatures in the tradition of the chimera, but actually there are only a few examples of similar hybrids, such as the Ostricheetah, the Parotters, and the Stormy Petrelephant. But most of what you will find on Scranimal Island are like the Avocadodo, "a fruit and a fowl inexplicably linked." A few of these might be something you could come up with if you thought long and hard enough about such things on a rainy day, such as the Potatoad, the Orangutangerine, or the Porcupineapple. But it really takes somebody with a wicked sense of imagination to come up with Camelberta Peaches, Spinachickens, or my personal favorite, the Bananaconda. "Scranimals" are the creation of Jack Prelutsky, apparently the poet laureate of the elementary school set, and two-time Caledcott Honor artist Peter Sis. The back cover of this charming little book shows the roots of each of the Scranimals so young readers know how you cross a lion with brocholli and get a brocholion. Once they have finished reading this book, your kids can probably come up with some new Scranimals to join the merry menagerie.

Rating:
Summary: I bet you never imagined any animals like the scranimals
Review: Scranimal Island, we are told, does not appear on most maps, which explains why the strange creatures found with these pages are the sorts never seen before by human eyes. I was expecting to find creatures in the tradition of the chimera, but actually there are only a few examples of similar hybrids, such as the Ostricheetah, the Parotters, and the Stormy Petrelephant. But most of what you will find on Scranimal Island are like the Avocadodo, "a fruit and a fowl inexplicably linked." A few of these might be something you could come up with if you thought long and hard enough about such things on a rainy day, such as the Potatoad, the Orangutangerine, or the Porcupineapple. But it really takes somebody with a wicked sense of imagination to come up with Camelberta Peaches, Spinachickens, or my personal favorite, the Bananaconda. "Scranimals" are the creation of Jack Prelutsky, apparently the poet laureate of the elementary school set, and two-time Caledcott Honor artist Peter Sis. The back cover of this charming little book shows the roots of each of the Scranimals so young readers know how you cross a lion with brocholli and get a brocholion. Once they have finished reading this book, your kids can probably come up with some new Scranimals to join the merry menagerie.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic in the Making
Review: This is a book that I delight in reading over and over - something I can't say for most books. The rhymes are fun and imaginative and flow naturally. The vocabulary used is adult and lends depth to the images. The illustrations are fascinating and relaxing with their dense patterns, quiet colors, and wide vistas. My daughter, who is six, loves the book and I imagine she will love it for many years. Scranimals is a classic. It will definitely get passed down to future generations of our family.

Rating:
Summary: Strikingly humorous!
Review: When I saw this book in the bookstore, I knew it would be good. Some of the things I didn't get at first, but my parents told me. When I reached that point, I found the humor in each one.
"On a bump beside a road
Sits a lowly Potatoad,
Obviously unaware
Of its own existence there."
This is a great read for all ages, despite complicated and hard-to-understand animals like the Stormy Petrelephant and the Cardinalbacore. I strongly suggest you should read this book.
-By Wu Love