Hopkins Award Poetry: Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant

Behold the bold umbrellaphant: and other poems
by Jack prelutsky
illustrated by carin berger

Prelutsky, Jack, and Carin Berger. Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: and Other Poems. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, 2006. 9780060543181

Plot Summary

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to mix an elephant with an umbrella, a hornet with a shoe horn, hats with chickens, or tweezers with weasels? Seventeen poems tell the tales of eighteen zany creatures that are combined with everyday items. A toad meets a toaster, a panther meets a thermometer, a boa meets a bulb, an ocelot meets a lock, and more. Big and small, this book has it all.

Analysis

Jack Prelutsky has once again proven that he is a master of whimsy. Combining eighteen animals with eighteen well-known objects, he crafter a book of poetry that is sure to delight readers of any age. Instead of writing thought-provoking poetry, Prelutsky chose to write humorous poetry that will have readers giggling by the second stanza of the first poem, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant. Rhythm and rhyme are the strongest of the poetic elements; they help readers follow along and make reading these poems out loud very easy and fun. Some of the names for the newly created creatures may be hard to pronounce, so Prelutsky has included the pronunciation for each one, similar to the way that words are written out in a dictionary. Each time the name is written in the poem, the letters are captalized giving them greater emphasis. Choosing animals and objects that are easily recognized will help younger readers to understand the humor of each new creature.

Carin Berger's illustrations are collages of bits of paper, with old-fashioned papers, bold colors, and interesting textures. They are the perfect match for Prelutsky's whimsical and zany style of poetry. The poems are humorous enough on their own, but when paired with Berger's illustrations they are perfectly expressed. A good example of this match is in the poem Hatchickens, "Hatchickens are odd, / And the reason is that / Instead of a head, / They have only a hat." Berger has included an illustration for each of the hatchickens present in the poem ,giving readers a chance to see how ridiculous these ridiculous fowls really are.

Excerpt

Shoehornets

    SHOEHORNETS make it easier

    For you to put on shoes.

    They quickly slide

    Your feet inside.

    You can, of course, refuse.

Connections

After reading through this poetry book, give each person a chance to select one animal and one object from a list of each. After their selections, instruct them on how to create a poem using this new combination. Some animals could be a dog, cat, horse, pig, or even insects like a spider or a fly. Some objects could be a marker, some tape, a teapot, a phone, or something silly like food. Unlike Prelutsky's poems, these animals and objects do not necessarily have to combine to form a new name like "umbrellaphant" or "toadsters". Everyone can focus on creating a poem about their new creature. If it is helpful, they can draw and color a picture of their creature first, so that they have a visual of the character for their poem.

Reviews

Susan Lempke with the Horn Book Magazine wrote, "Berger's sophisticated visual wit pairs with Prelutsky's verbal ingenuity to create unconventional animals--the Ocelock, the Clocktopus, and the Tubaboons, to name a few. In each of the seventeen poems, Prelutsky combines an animal with an inanimate object and then evokes the purpose of the object in the animal's behavior . . . The clever collage art uses reproductions of old-fashioned illustrations of objects--e.g., the Toadsters are vintage toasters with eyes and toad legs, the Alarmadillos' bodies are round analog clocks with bells, and the Panthermometer's tail is a glass mercury thermometer."

Lempke, Susan Dove. 2006. “[Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems].” Horn Book Magazine 82 (6): 730–31. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518448676&site=ehost-live.

Donna Cardon writing for the School Library Journal wrote, "Prelutsky is one of the best word crafters in the business, and this collection does not disappoint . . . The poems are full of fun and wit, with wordplay and meter that never miss a beat. The whimsical illustrations use cut-print media, old-fashioned print images, and a variety of paper textures to create a rich visual treat well suited to the poetry. The detail in the mixed-media pictures makes this a good choice for individual or lap reading, but the poetry begs to be read aloud."

Cardon, Donna. 2006. “[Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems].” School Library Journal 52 (10): 142. https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.twu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=brd&AN=518443932&site=ehost-live.