by Jack Prelutsky (Author), Jimmy Pickering (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 8 -12
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (March 10, 2009)
Review: Weird, wacky and wonderful are just some of the words that come to mind when reading The Swamps of Sleethe by Jack Prelutsky. The first ever Chidren’s Poet Laureate has put together a dark, yet, energetic collection of verses. In his latest book, readers are taken on a profane sub-solar adventure worth every second. The words used by Prelutsky are sure to grow a young readers vocabulary, while stimulating the imagination of older readers. The illustrations by Jimmy Pickering have just the right amount of creep factor, using wonderful contrasting colors to bring energy and warmth – even to the coldest verses. A great book for the brave and E.I. (extra-intelligent).
Here is an excerpt:
The Beholder in the Silence
On a planet gray and airless
At the universe’s rim,
Where the night is everlasting
And the stars are ever dim,
The Beholder in the Silence
Waits immobile, hushed, and grim.
