Jack Prelutsky

“I have always enjoyed playing with words, but I had no idea that I would be a writer. There was a time when I couldn’t stand poetry! . . . When I was a young man, I discovered poetry again and it changed my life.”—Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky has written more than 40 books of verse and has compiled a number of poetry anthologies. His anthology, The 20th-Century Children’s Poetry Treasury, includes 211 wonderful poems that represent the best the century has to offer.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

For years, Jack Prelutsky’s inventive poems have inspired legions of children to fall in love with poetry. His outrageously silly poems have tickled even the most stubborn funny bones, while his darker verses have spooked countless late-night readers. His award-winning books include Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, and The Beauty of the Beast.

While attending a Bronx, New York, grade school, Prelutsky took piano and voice lessons and was a regular in school shows. Surprisingly, Prelutsky developed a healthy dislike for poetry due to a teacher who “left me with the
impression that poetry was the literary equivalent of liver. I was told it was good for me, but I wasn’t convinced.”

In his early twenties, Prelutsky spent six months drawing imaginary animals in ink and watercolor. One evening, he wrote two dozen short poetry verses to accompany each drawing. A friend encouraged him to show them to an editor, who loved his poems (although not his artwork!) and urged him to keep writing. Prelutsky listened and he is still busy writing.

Jack Prelutsky lives on Mercer Island in Washington with his wife, Carolynn.

PRAISE

THE 20TH-CENTURY CHILDREN’S POETRY TREASURY
“A splendid collection.”—Starred, School Library Journal

“Teachers and librarians will want to use this millennial volume with Prelutsky’s Random House Book of Poetry for Children to introduce our best children’s poets and encourage children to write about their immediate experience.”—Booklist

THE RANDOM HOUSE BOOK OF POETRY FOR CHILDREN
“A generous collection with a distinctly upbeat tone, this gives a taste of the best poets writing for children over the last several decades. Lobel’s drawings imbue the whole with action and graphic images as inventive as the verse. Successfully geared to meet home, school, and library needs.”—Starred, Booklist

Author Bookshelf
		The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Meilo So Hardcover "Until this century, most children's poetry was either syrupy sweet or overblown and didactic, and tended to talk down to its readers. Contemporary children's poets have thrown all that condescension and moralizing out the window, and write with today's real child in mind." - from the Introduction by Jack Prelutsky Here in one... Read More
		The Beauty of the Beast Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Meilo So Hardcover First published in 1997 and unavailable for three years, this ALA Notable Book of 200 poems for animal lovers is now being reissued with a price lowered from $22.95 to $19.95. Culled by Jack Prelutsky from the works of more than 100 highly acclaimed poets of the twentieth century, here is... Read More
		For Laughing Out Loud: Poems to Tickle Your Funnybone Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman Hardcover Illus. in full color. "These nonsense verses combine the domestic and the gross, deadpan and slapstick, with a lilting rhythm and satisfying rhyme. The poets are well-known contemporaries including Prelutsky, Silverstein, Kuskin, Lobel, Viorst, and many more. The design is ebullient. Start or end story hour with these verses, and kids... Read More
		Good Sports Written by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Chris Raschka Hardcover Exhilarating, all-new, kid-friendly rhymes capture the range of emotions, from winning to losing to the sheer joy of participating, that children experience as they discover the games of their choice. Jack Prelutsky, a virtuoso at making poetry fun for the elementary school crowd, includes in this inspired collection poems about baseball... Read More
		Good Sports Written by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Chris Raschka Hardcover Library Binding Exhilarating, all-new, kid-friendly rhymes capture the range of emotions, from winning to losing to the sheer joy of participating, that children experience as they discover the games of their choice. Jack Prelutsky, a virtuoso at making poetry fun for the elementary school crowd, includes in this inspired collection poems about baseball... Read More
		Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! Written by Jack Prelutsky Hardcover 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... Read More
		Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! Written by Jack Prelutsky Hardcover Library Binding 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... Read More
		Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Meilo So Trade Paperback “Prelutsky has invented a method he calls ‘poemstarts’ to help children get started in writing poetry. He provides several introductory lines of a simple poem and then offers some open-ended suggestions for its completion. In this thematically organized collection, Prelutsky offers ten poemstarts on different popular themes, complemented by three short... Read More
		Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Meilo So Hardcover When Jack Prelutksy posted the first couplet of a funny poem on a Web site and invited children to finish it, he expected about 100 responses. He got thousands. Now he has come up with an anthology of poems on 10 popular subjects by well-known poets and combined it with his... Read More
		Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Marc Brown Hardcover First published in 1986 and just as fresh and relevant today, this widely acclaimed, child-friendly poetry anthology is now being reissued with a striking new jacket. In his introduction to this book Jim Trelease, bestselling author of The Read-Aloud Handbook, writes, “No one better recognizes the essence of the child-poetry connection... Read More
		The Random House Book of Poetry for Children Selected by Jack Prelutsky Hardcover Library Binding Illus. in color and full color. "A generous collection with a distinctly upbeat tone, this gives a taste of the best poets writing for children over the last several decades. Lobel's drawings imbue the whole with action and graphic images as inventive as the verse. Successfully geared to meet home, school... Read More
		The Random House Book of Poetry for Children Selected by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Arnold Lobel Hardcover "A generous collection with a distinctly upbeat tone, this gives a taste of the best poets writing for children over the last several decades. Lobel's drawings imbue the whole with action and graphic images as inventive as the verse. Successfully geared to meet home, school, and library needs."--(starred) Booklist.   Read More
		The Swamps of Sleethe Written by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Jimmy Pickering Hardcover Jack Prelutsky’s exploration of outer space is not for the faint of heart. No friendly little E.T.–type aliens await your arrival. There are many imaginative ways to perish in these darkly comedic cautionary verses about unexplored worlds so far beyond our solar system. The final poem is an environmental tour de... Read More
		The Swamps of Sleethe Written by Jack Prelutsky Illustrated by Jimmy Pickering Hardcover Library Binding Jack Prelutsky’s exploration of outer space is not for the faint of heart. No friendly little E.T.–type aliens await your arrival. There are many imaginative ways to perish in these darkly comedic cautionary verses about unexplored worlds so far beyond our solar system. The final poem is an environmental tour de... Read More