Open this book to any page to begin your exploration. Here are poems about things that you may never have thought about before. You'll be introduced to jellyfish stew, a bouncing mouse, a ridiculous dog, and a boneless chicken. You'll learn why you shouldn't argue with a shark, eat a dinosaur, or have an alligator for a pet. You'll meet the world's worst singer and the greatest video game player in history. You'll even find an invitation to a dragon's birthday party....Your friends are invited too.

Take "Jellyfish Stew." "You're soggy, you're smelly, / you taste like shampoo, / you bog down my belly / with oodles of goo, / yet I would glue noodles / and prunes to my shoe, / for one oozy spoonful / of jellyfish stew." Poems about greedy grannies, exploding Bloders, and hypothetical situations such as having your nose unfortunately situated between your toes are guaranteed to delight you and your favorite kids. Quirky, surprising, and always delightful, Prelutsky's poems make us wish we'd grown up with his books in hand. Illustrator James Stevenson's loose pen-and-ink sketches are lively and fluid, waltzing along perfectly with Prelutsky's playful poetry. Once you and your children have howled your way through this ALA Notable Book, you'll be happy to discover that this talented pair has created two other meaty collections, including Something BIG Has Been Here and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. (Ages 4 to 12)

"Thanksgiving From A Child's Eye"

The older I get the more wonderful Thanksgiving becomes.

Back when my good friend Hal was 45 he told me that he looked forward to getting old. His rationale was that in old age if you did something stupid, forgot an important occasion, or were a grump everyone would forgive you, saying, "Poor Hal, he's getting so senile."

Hal joyfully awaited the advent of his freedom from strident seriousness.

Now that I am as old as Hal was when he was looking forward to becoming senile and serendipitous, I must agree that I am enjoying aging.

While my body is falling apart, my spirit is becoming more puerile. While my eyesight becomes increasingly more indeterminate, my vision is filled with awe and wonder.

As I reclaim the innocence of childhood, I find there are more blessings to celebrate on Thanksgiving Day.

Children have the genius to see blessings when others see hardship. They find joy while adults get lost in melancholy. They build on hope as others lumber in despair.

If you need an infusion of joy and hope this week let me humbly suggest that you forgo the mall and skip over to amazon.com.

Wander into the Children's Books department. Look at the pictures, read the stories, and enjoy their simplicity. Take a few moments and read one of Jack Prelutsky's books.

Jack Prelutsky has become my favorite poet. His poetry sails on the winds of whimsy. He is capriciously playful as he ponders pictures of a child's universe

Measure for measure Shakespeare may have the best meter. Walt Whitman may be heralded as America's greatest ever since he penned "I Hear America Singing." But my spirits soar and my chords sing when I read Jack Prelutsky's poetry.

In his collection The New Kid on the Block (Greenwillow Books, 1984) he has written my favorite thanksgiving poem. In this poem, I'm Thankful, a child counts his blessings.

Delightfully and with grateful insight the kid in him tallies these treasures,

"I'm thankful for my basketball, it's sprung another leak, I'm thankful for my parakeet, it bit me twice last week, I'm thankful for my bicycle, I crashed into a tree, I'm thankful for my roller skates, I fell and scraped my knee, I'm thankful for my bathing suit, it came off in the river,

I'm thankful for so many things, except, of course, for liver."

If your inner child is muddled in a puddle of solemn scenarios, splash around in Prelutsky's book The New Kid on the Block

You should buy "The New Kid on the Block".Because it has lots of funny words and weard ones.You would like the pictures too.You would laugh so hard your toung will fall out!And it will laugh with you.So buy this book today!

This book is made up of a lot of funny poems.

This book is a great book. One poem that I really liked was titled "I Wonder why Dad is so Thoroughly mad" because it was very humorous.

then there's pruletsky's "mean maxine", "jellyfish stew", or "i spied my shadow slinking".

kids these days don't appreciate poetry as much as they should. most 15-year-olds haven't heard of iambic pentamener or alliteration. well, a way to get kids to learn would be to start them off young. the last generation had seuss and silverstein, not it's time for people to really take a good look at jack pruletsky. ok, his poems aren't metaphorical, but they give kids a deep appreciation for poetry, and may even inspire them to writ their own.

pruletsky's hilarios twist on things you don't ordinarily think about ("the flotz") and things you do ("homework", "i'm in a horrible mood today") makes this one of the most enjoyable poetry books i have read in a very long time.