Description
Product Description
The instant New York Times bestseller featured on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon! B. J. Novak (bestselling author of The Book With No Pictures) described this groundbreaking poetry collection as "Smart and sweet, wild and wicked, brilliantly funny--it's everything a book for kids should be."
Lauded by critics as a worthy heir to such greats as Silverstein, Seuss, Nash and Lear, Harris's hilarious debut molds wit and wordplay, nonsense and oxymoron, and visual and verbal sleight-of-hand in masterful ways that make you look at the world in a whole new wonderfully upside-down way. With enthusiastic endorsements from bestselling luminaries such as Lemony Snicket, Judith Viorst, Andrea Beaty, and many others, this entirely unique collection offers a surprise around every corner. Adding to the fun: Lane Smith, bestselling creator of beloved hits like It's a Book and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, has spectacularly illustrated this extraordinary collection with nearly one hundred pieces of appropriately absurd art. It's a mischievous match made in heaven!
"Ridiculous, nonsensical, peculiar, outrageous, possibly deranged--and utterly, totally, absolutely delicious. Read it! Immediately!" --Judith Viorst, bestselling author of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
From School Library Journal
Gr 3–8—Those who claim to hate poetry will enjoy this riotous compilation just as much as those who love the form. Fans of Ogden Nash, Shel Silverstein, and Jack Prelutsky will rejoice in finding another member of their gang. Wordplay abounds: "If ever I find myself holding a gecko…/I'll lecko." Typography is the source of gags, as when the letters "d" and "b" face off for a duel, turn to shoot each other, and fall over dead, having become the letters "p" and "q." And the title poem will have kids howling with laughter as the narrator repeatedly misses the most obvious rhymes: "I'm just no good at rhyming./It makes me feel so bad./I'm just no good at rhyming,/And that's why I am blue." Smith matches Harris's wit with his own zaniness, merging line drawings with printing techniques that add a variety of texture and mood. The interplay between text and illustration provides further delights. VERDICT A surefire winner for reading aloud or for snickering with under the covers. Every library will want to add this to its poetry collection.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY
Review
Praise for I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups:
A New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Editors' Choice
An NPR Best Book of 2017
An Amazon Best Book of 2017
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2017
A News & Observer Wilde Award Book of 2017
A Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth 2017 Selection
A Kirkus Best Middle-Grade Books of 2017 Selection
School Library Journal's Best Books of 2017
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books of 2017
An Iowa Public Radio Best Children's Books to Give in 2017
100 Scope Notes Top 20 Books of 2017
School Library Journal's Fuse #8 Blog - 2017 Poetry Books for Kids
A Nerdies 2017 Selection
NCTE's 2018 Notable Poetry Books
ALA-ALSC Notable Books for Children List 2018
A Parents' Choice Award Gold Winner for Audio Books 2018
*"A frolicking romp through the zany world of nonsense verse.... Visual, aural, and downright guffaw-inspiring puns and riddles abound in this wildly imaginative and cleverly illustrated debut collection. The inspired and inspiring sense of play knows no bounds."
―Kirkus Reviews, starred review
*"Those who claim to hate poetry will enjoy this riotous compilation.... A surefire winner for reading aloud or for snickering with under the covers."
―School Library Journal, starred review
*"Hits a poetry trifecta: high energy, rhymes that can rival Cole Porter's, and a torrent of ideas...a worthy heir to Silverstein, Seuss, and even Ogden Nash."
―Publishers Weekly, starred review
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