I INVITED A DRAGON TO DINNER

A lively picture book filled with humorous poems by a variety of new poets does what the subtitle suggests—makes the reader (and listener) laugh out loud. With poems that will remind readers of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, this exuberantly illustrated collection discusses many topics of interest to young children. In “The Human Pickle,” Denise Long amuses with the tale of a young girl called A.K. who loves pickles so much she turned into a pickle. “When her pee turned green / Her folks were unnerved. / She was put in a jar / So that she’d be preserved.” Plays on words and puns add to the fun. In “A New View,” by Jill Esbaum, “Susie dropped her glasses / In the mud beside the brook. / Now everybody Susie meets / Gets a dirty look.” Demarest’s (Bikes for Rent, 2001, etc.) signature ink-and-watercolor illustrations have just the right amount of exuberance and exaggeration to match the poets’ intentions. “Theodore Standitch” is a boy who will eat everything, from “bread and toenail spread” to “A can of Spam, a candied yam.” Demarest draws every single item mentioned in the poem, all stacked up and being dropped into Theodore’s enormous mouth and choppers. Though the book is amended with a few sentences about each of the 24 poems and their creators, only the flap copy mentions that these poems were a result of a contest to “find the best new writers of verse for children.” Little will the child reader care about such adult concerns, though. The deep belly laughs and red-faced embarrassment that come from reading words like “pee” and “belch” will be enough to make this an instant favorite. (Picture book/poetry. 5-10)