Jack Prelutsky's book is full of poems and great illustrations.This collection of twenty-eight poems presents children with a taste of poetry within a picture book format. This classic collection for the young child is bound to fill their faces with smiles . ( )

The first poetry book I chose is called “In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden” by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Petra Mathers. The quality of the art is good. The drawings look like could have been done by a talented child; I mean it is child friendly. One more interesting fact is that the illustrator is an Oregonion what can contribute to students motivation to read the book. I don’t think there is a specific theme to the collection of poems. They are kind of related to nature but not all. ( )

This collection of twenty-eight poems presents children with a taste of poetry within a picture book format. Each poem is a stanza or two long, with an appropriate sized font that leaves lots of page space for illustration with large enough text. Common motifs are geography and animals, with poems such as “In the Spring in Kansas City,” “In Toledo,” or “In Bemidji, Minnesota” interspersed with titles like “Seagull, Seagull, or “Little Bat, Little Bat.” These poems employ end rhyme to ensure flow, and are uncomplicated in content. The poems are best enjoyed a few at a time; reading this text cover to cover is not recommended. Mathers’ watercolors bring the poems to life, depicting a main action or idea from the text. The color palette varies by poem; the title poem makes bold use of warm red tones while a poem about a sleepy character uses subdued gradations of blue. The pictures and poems harmoniously create a respectable work of poetry for children. In Aunt Giraffe’s Green Garden has a place in any Prelutsky-centric collection or will work as an acceptable filler in any juvenile poetry collection. It is recommended for children ages five to eight. ( )

Prelutsky, J., & Mathers, P. (2007). In Aunt Giraffe’s green garden. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Grades 1 and 2

In this collection, children’s poet laureate Jack Prelutsky creates 28 poems full of whimsical situations and a lot of imagination. In the world dreamed by Prelustky—for this is where his inspiration comes from according to the last poem of the book, “There was a little poet” (p.63)—anything is possible. Animals and people share the pages of the book in situations that are sure to bring out smiles in the readers. Most poems are made up of quatrains that maintain a very simple rhyming scheme (abab/abab; aabb/ccdd; abab/cdcd; abcb/aded). Rhymes sound natural, and when read aloud and when read aloud they flow like songs. Alliteration and assonance enliven many of the poems: in “Above the wide Potomac,” readers the eagles’ graceful moves as “they swoop and soar” (p. 25); in “The poodles ate the oodles of noodles,” assonance gives the reader the feeling of a mouthful much like the dogs in the illustration. Prelutsky uses repetition to open and close many of the poems providing a unifying element and intensifying the song quality of his writing. The unusual images painted by the poet’s imagination are sure to surprise and delight children. In “Ten mice went to Denver” (p. 11), the little creatures spend four weeks sightseeing in Denver and squeak in delight of such great sights. In “A blue goose and a little green duck” (p. 13), the absurd partnership is intensified by commonplace details like driving around in truck, eating buttered toast, and sipping juice. Making use of the endless possibilities of children’s imagination, Prelustky creates light-hearted poetry meant to amuse readers of all ages. The illustrations work with the poems to create colorful images that complement each piece. They burst with colors and stylized creatures to add another dimension to the poems. This collection is a great introduction to poetry as it engages children with its vivid vocabulary, zany situations, simple yet effective rhyming patterns, and an overall sense of joy and fun. ( )

In Aunt Giraffe's Green Garden is a collection of poetry aimed at young children. The author uses rhyming words to create funny poems that are easy for the children to learn and for the most part easy for them to read at a beginner reading level.

I enjoyed many of the poems in the book, but I do believe children's poetry is much more fun when you have a class full of imagination to discuss it with after you're done reading it.

As an activity, we could make our own rhyming poem. The children can use alliteration, just as the author does in In Aunt Giraffe's Green Garden.