Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories

Publishers Weekly,HWith ebullient Dixieland/ragtime jazz as accompaniment, Pinkwater, children's book author and radio personality, gleefully performs Brown's 14 hip and funny story-poems. An on-air rave about this book by Pinkwater during his children's book segment on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday back in 1998 helped put the title on the map (and obviously gave Pinkwater an edge when it came time to cast this audio production). Listeners can't help hearing Pinkwater's clear appreciation of the silly subject matter; at times he seems on the verge of giggling, reading lines like "Funky Snowman loves to dance./ You'd think he wouldn't have much chance/ without two legs/ or even pants.... Kick it, Funky Snowman!" Out-of-the-ordinary images abound, from a "tightrope traffic jam" of circus performers on Highwire 66 to the Bathtub Driver and his three-legged duck and Georgie Spider, pie baker extraordinaire. A great title for National Poetry Month, or any time. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved