CREATURE CARNIVAL By Marilyn Singer (genre 3 book 2)

"Come along, children of all ages. 

See fabled beasts not found in cages. 

Spend your parents' hard-earned wages. 

It's Creature Carnival time."

This delightful book of poetry by Marilyn Singer explores a vast assortment of fabled creatures such as the Mermaid, the Cheshire Cat, and Godzilla. Combined with the ink illustrations of Gris Grimly, a fascinating world of the weird and absurd has been created to draw in readers of all ages. 

As a companion book to Monster Museum, this duo of author & illustrator combine poetic verse and wacky illustrations to define the tales for each creature. Beauty doesn't mind that her Beast's growl makes her father wince and the Satyrs do and excellent job square dancing. The rhythmical poetry in Creature Carnival lends itself well to reading aloud; and the cartoon-like illustrations are just macabre enough to fascinate without being gruesome. 

The "Featured Creatures" glossary at the back of the book gives a brief description of each character. The Minotaur's genealogy is exposed and Greek mythology is said to be "full of bull." The Coyote is said to have hailed from Native American tales but others such as the Mermaid are given a more superficial origin. Either way, the characters will draw in children and adults alike and possibly inspire further research and reading. 

Review Excerpts:
"This attention-getting menagerie will have readers and listeners sitting on the edges-and probably falling right out-of their seats..." -Kirkus

"Not since Jack Prelutsky and Arnold Lobel teamed up in Nightmares (1976) and The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight (1980, both Greenwillow) has there been a better collection of poems celebrating the weird. Creature Carnival is worth any admission price." -School Library Journal


Connections:
*Creature glossary at the back of the book can be used to inspire future reading. You can provide other books that contain the different creatures or send the kids off on a scavenger hunt to find them themselves.

*Readers can be encouraged to research a different creature of lore and write their own a poem for it; or they can draw their own creature and put his characteristics to rhyme.


Bibliography:
Singer, Marilyn. 2004. Creature Carnival. Ill. by Gris Grimly.  New York: Hyperion. ISBN 9780786818778.