Poems by Rob Jackson
Illustrated by Laura Jacobsen
From Kirkus Reviews:
"These short, sly, humorous animal poems with a dollop of science will tickle the funny bone of young readers and encourage imitation. The poet celebrates sloths, penguins, sharks, sea horses, camels, salamanders, lightning bugs, octopi and armadillos, among others...Whimsical illustrations in pastel pen add to the charm. The author, a biologist, concludes with additional facts about each animal. Where the animal poems of Douglas Florian and Jack Prelutsky are popular, this will find an enthusiastic fan club."
From childrenslit.com:
"The author is a biologist and he has created a series of poems about animals that are full of fun and even silly made-up words. His poem "Follow the Leader" explains that an ant leaves a trail of chemicals so that other ants can find food. The facts are made really amusing by Jacobsen's drawing of an ant traveling from a table of sweets to a potted plant and then across the body of a sleeping dog--that is the image that will stick in kids' minds and help them remember the facts. In "Starfish" readers will learn that this creature is really an echinoderm and that it consumes food by turning its stomach inside out. Sounds gross, but there is plenty of information in this brief poem, and humor in the picture of the crab looking like it is going to end up as dinner for this starfish."
From Booklist:
"Gr. 2-4. Biologist Rob Jackson shares both his knowledge of animals and his way with words in this collection of 18 short, witty poems...Appealing colored-pencil artwork reflects the light tone of the verse. Books of animal poems are not hard to find, but few so successfully integrate zoology with amusing verse. -Carolyn Phelan"
From The Horn Book:
"Accompanied by playful illustrations of humanlike animals, most poems in this humorous collection are about a specific creature."