The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders

Starred review from February 7, 2005
In these 28 poems that alight everywhere from Tuscaloosa to El Paso, Winnemucca to the Grand Canyon, "the rhymes flow easily, set to a consistently bouncy beat that makes reading them aloud effortless," wrote PW
. "The watercolors exude a puckish charm well matched to the nimble word play." Ages 5-up.

Starred review from November 26, 2001
Prelutsky (Awful Ogre's Awful Day) trades his usual giddy hilarity for a tone of gentler glee in this collection of verse. Loosely knit together by U.S. geography, the 28 poems alight everywhere from Tuscaloosa to El Paso, Winnemucca to the Grand Canyon. In the Pacific Northwest, for instance, "Seattle is lovely,/ but I cannot lie—/ without an umbrella/ it's hard to stay dry." The rhymes flow easily, set to a consistently bouncy beat that makes reading them aloud effortless ("Baby in a high chair,/ baby in a bib,/ baby in a stroller,/ baby in a crib"). Mathers's (Lottie's New Beach Towel) watercolors exude a puckish charm well-matched to the nimble wordplay, and she lets loose a menagerie of her trademark sprightly animals, often fleshing out the situations in the poems. In "Carpenter, Carpenter," for instance, a mouse couple enlists the help of a builder to construct their house for the price of a cheese; the artist completes the tale by showing the couple, now with two additions, enjoying the reward with the carpenter at their kitchen table, their completed home emulating the shape and color of the prize cheese. In another, "There Was a Tiny Baker," Mathers chronicles the baker's day from sun-up to day's end, as he shares a cookie with his pet mouse. There's plenty of zip in this nifty outing. Ages 5-up.

March 15, 2002
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Ages 3-8. In a companion to \plain\f3\fs24" Ride a Purple Pelican\plain\f3\fs24 (1986) and\plain\f3\fs24" Beneath a Blue Umbrella\plain\f3\fs24 (1990), Prelutsky's animal nonsense rhymes for younger children range across the country, from "Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete" on a bright Atlanta street to "Seven Snails and Seven Snakes" that swam across the five Great Lakes. There are also fantasy settings, such as the garden where clothes grow and the place where 10 brown bears with big bow ties gobble plates of apple pies. The large-size book is spacious in design, great for reading aloud, and Mathers is at her best with double-page watercolors that combine farce and silliness with clear, precise characters and landscapes that range from one small hen's awe-inspiring view of the Grand Canyon to a tender close-up of an old owl in a silent forest. Prelutsky does what he says in his letter in \plain\f3\fs24" Seeing the Blue Between\plain\f3\fs24 (see p.1250): he makes the ordinary special. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2002
Here are twenty-eight lighthearted poems, many of which invoke place names in the United States. Prelutsky is content to describe scenes that vary from realistic to whimsical. The mild humor lies not in the action but in the deft use of language, particularly effective when shared aloud. Demurely naive, Mathers's cheerful, delicately delineated human and animal characters focus on their activities with becoming modesty and grace.

(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 1, 2002
PreS-Gr 3-The prolific poet is back with an illustrator who matches him in freshness and simplicity. The poems offer vivid glimpses of life; have a beginning, middle, and end; and have a clear underlying music and flow. The selections are for a slightly younger audience than much of Prelutsky's work: some poems are as simple as Mother Goose rhymes ("Baby in a high chair, /baby in a bib, /baby in a stroller, /baby in a crib"), while others would make great flannelboard rhymes for sharing with four- and five-year-olds ("In her garden, Sarah Small/grows galoshes, short and tall./Shirts of yellow, hats of red/beautify her flower bed"). Many of the 28 poems play with American place names, from Tuscaloosa to Tucumcari, and might enliven a geography lesson. Mathers's wonderful watercolors highlight her talents for color and expression. Her treatment of light is lovely, especially in her delicate and exquisite skies, while the comic dignity of some of her creatures, such as the frogs in red suspenders, suits Prelutsky's mood just right. A superb choice.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.