Jack Prelutsky holds the honor being named the first Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. The author of dozens of books, he is loved by children, parents and teachers because of his clever and entertaining -- dare we say even challenging -- verse and ideas.
Scholastic has biographical information about Jack here -- Scholastic resource -- as well as other audio files of the author reading his own material! (It's really a good resource page)
and the Wikipedia entry for him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Prelutsky
NOW here are his books at the easier end of the spectrum. Books from AR 1.8 to 4.0
Spaghetti! Spaghetti! (no picture available)
by Jack Prelutsky
This is an out of print book and probably only available at your local library. Description: A boy loves spaghetti and can't get enough!
- Publisher: The Wright Group
- ISBN-10: 1556246226
-- amazon
Technical data
Word Count: 124
Interest Level: ??
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 1.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 35703
Wild Witches' Ball
by Jack Prelutsky
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 3.00 — 4 votes
A tall witch, a round witch, a silly witch, too. Some are spooky, some are cute, and one wears go-go boots! They have gathered for their ball. Why not try to count them all?
- Hardcover: 24 pages
- Publisher: HarperFestival
- ISBN-10: 0060529725
-- amazon
Technical data
Word Count: 124
Interest Level: Preschool and very early elementary
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 2.9 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 81648
Dog Days: Rhymes Around the Year by Jack Prelutsky, Dyanna Wolcott (Illustrator)
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 2.80 — 5 votes Amazon rating — very good — 3 votes
I am a dog who scribbles rhymes
About my many happy times.
I wrote this book to make it clear
That I have fun around the year.
Learning about the twelve months of the year is more fun than ever with Jack Prelutsky's rhymes and Dyanna Wolcott's illustrations. Told and pictured from a dog's point of view, this bright little book makes you want to kick up your heels and be a dog for a day
- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
- ISBN-10: 0375801049
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 2
Interest Level: early elementary
Lexile: NP
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young
by Jack Prelutsky, Marc Brown
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 3.91 — 32 votes Amazon rating — very good — 25 votes
200 great short poems. Engagingly illustrated, this classic book features a variety of rhymes both old and new.
- Hardcover: 112 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
- ISBN-10: 0394872185
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 2
Interest Level: preschool thru early elementary
Lexile: NP
New Kid On The Block
by Jack Prelutsky, James Stevenson (Illustrator)
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.17 — 502 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 22 votes
This exuberant valise of verse bulges with more than 100 poems about things you've never thought about, such as Underwater Wibbles who dine exclusively on cheese, and things you probably have thought about, such as sneezing oysters and the dot-gobbling Flotz. Jack Prelutsky, one of the premier children's poets of our time, manages to be deadpan and goofy simultaneously and in perfect rhythm right up to the pleasantly unpredictable punch lines of his poems.
- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books
- ISBN-10: 0688022715
- Look Inside available
- Audio version available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 3
Interest Level: early elementary
Lexile: NP
If Not For The Cat
by Jack Prelutsky, Ted Rand (Illustrator)
**Horn Book Fanfare List**
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.18 — 68 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 6 votes
A creature whispers:
If not for the cat,
And the scarcity of cheese,
I could be content.
Who is this creature?
What does it like to eat?
Can you solve the riddle?
Seventeen haiku composed by master poet Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by renowned artist Ted Rand ask you to think about seventeen favorite residents of the animal kingdom in a new way. On these glorious and colorful pages you will meet a mouse, a skunk, a beaver, a hummingbird, ants, bald eagles, jellyfish, and many others. Who is who? The answer is right in front of you. But how can you tell? Think and wonder and look and puzzle it out!
- Hardcover: 40 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books (2004)
- ISBN-10: 0060596775
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 3
Interest Level: early elementary
Lexile: NP
Something Big Has Been Here
by Jack Prelutsky, James Stevenson (Illustrator)
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.14 — 212 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 14 votes
A poetry collection to tickle your funny bone, Something Big Has Been Here features more than 100 original poems and black-and-white drawings from the best-selling team of Jack Prelutsky and James Stevenson. Here are four ferocious tigers, a meat loaf that defies an ax, five flying hot dogs-and many, many more people, animals, and things that are destined to become a part of the lives of everyone who loves to laugh.
- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books
- ISBN-10: 0061857750
- Look Inside available
- Audio version available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 3
Interest Level: early elementary
Lexile: NP
There's No Place Like School
by Jack Prelutsky, Jane Manning (Illustrator)
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 3.70 — 10 votes
From suspicious hot lunches to pop quizzes to recess and best friends, everything you love, and love to hate, about school is front and center in this collection of eighteen poems by thirteen celebrated poets.
Technical data- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books (2010)
- ISBN-10: 0060823380
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Word Count: 995
Interest Level: early elementary
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 3.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 138389
Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More
by Jack Prelutsky
Chris Raschka (Illustrator)
**STARRED Review** Booklist
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 3.96 — 25 votes Amazon rating — very good — 3 votes
Prelutsky's gleeful verses team up with Raschka's economic, energetic, and humorous illustrations to create a winning book. Seventeen brief, untitled poems, mostly presented across eye-catching spreads, describe the experiences and emotions of young athletes as they participate in a variety of physical pursuits, including soccer, football, ice skating, and gymnastics. The narrators display varying levels of expertise, and although they may not excel at their endeavors, they are all at heart "good sports," dedicated to trying their best.
- Paperback: 40 pages
- Publisher: Dragonfly Books
- ISBN-10: 0375865586
-- amazon
Technical data
Word Count: 959
Interest Level: early elementary
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 3.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 114247
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day!
by Dr. Seuss, Jack Prelutsky, Lane Smith (Illustrator)
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.04 — 785 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 50 votes
Started by Seuss, finished by Jack Prelutsky, and splendiferously illustrated by Lane Smith, this is the children's book publishing event of the year! Big--56 pages--and bursting with energy, here is a joyous ode to individuality, starring an unsinkable teacher named Miss Bonkers and quirky little Diffendoofer School, which must prove it has taught its students how to think--or have them sent to dreary Flobbertown.
- Hardcover: 64 pages
- Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
- ISBN-10: 0679890084
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical data
Word Count: 1,145
Interest Level: elementary
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 3.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 19490
Lexile: AD750L
Pizza The Size Of The Sun
by Jack Prelutsky, James Stevenson (Illustrator)
**Starred Review** Publishers Weekly
**Starred Review** School Library Journal
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.12 — 300 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 23 votes
Yet another masterful collection of poems by the prolific Prelutsky, filled with zany people, improbable creatures, and rhythm and rhyme galore, all combining to celebrate the unusual, the mundane, and the slightly gruesome ("Eyeballs for sale!/Fresh eyeballs for sale!/Delicious, nutritious,/Not moldy or stale."). Each page is brimming with Stevenson's complementary, droll watercolors, reproduced here in black and white....
- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books
- ISBN-10: 0688132359
- Look Inside available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 4
Interest Level: tweeners and middle-school
Lexile: NP
My Dog May Be A Genius: Poems
by Jack Prelutsky
James Stevenson (Illustrator)
**Starred Review** Publishers Weekly
4/12 GoodReads avg rating — 4.04 — 71 votes Amazon rating — Excellent — 12 votes
Have you ever encountered an underwater marching band, a pig in a bathing suit, a pet orangutan, or a witch in a hardware store? Have you ever sat with a skunk in a courtroom, shopped for a dinosaur, or conversed with a Bupple, a Wosstrus, a Violinnet, or a Celloon? You will have, once you′ve read this exuberant collaboration from Jack Prelutsky and his "partner in crime"∗ James Stevenson. The "reigning czars of silliness"∗ have once again teamed up to bring readers an irresistible collection of poems that will have tongues twisting, imaginations soaring, and sides aching with laughter. The result is genius, indeed.
- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Greenwillow Books
- ISBN-10: 0066238625
- Look Inside available
- Audio version available
-- amazon
Technical data
Reading Level: generic 4
Interest Level: elementary
by Pam T
2 comments :
Don't forget If Not For the Cat! That's perhaps my favorite poetry book to use with classes at the library. Riddle haiku are a lot of fun! --Shan
Got it!
I was trying to see if I could track down a more precise AR reading level number... but apparently there isn't one.
P~
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