Synopses & Reviews
When Daniel Pinkwater performed Calef Brown's poetry on NPR, the response was tremendous. Pinkwater's animated personality and his appreciation for the delightfully silly make him the perfect voice to bring alive the inventive story-poems of Polkabats and Octopus Slacks.
Calef Brown's distinctive illustrations have appeared in numerous magazines and on book covers, CDs, soda cans, and gallery walls. In addition to the highly acclaimed Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories, he has written and illustrated Dutch Sneakers and Fleakeepers: 14 More Stories.
Review
and#147;A wacky, postmodern array of characters. . . . Brownand#8217;s illustrations (are) a perfect choice of style for the poetryand#8217;s quirky logic. An exuberant debut, equally enjoyable read silently or aloud.and#8221; and#151;Booklist Booklist, ALA
and#147;The deadpan tone and weird words, worthy of a carnival barker, inject a step-right-up sensibility into the humorous rhymes.and#8221; and#151;Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Not far from a greenish town, the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies, while overhead on Highwire 66 theres a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Eds funny smell, Elizas special jackettheyre all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, fourteen stories about pesky snails, sleeping fruit, and one funky snowman.
Synopsis
Not far from a greenish town, the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies, while overhead on Highwire 66 there's a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Ed's funny smell, Eliza's special jacket—they're all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, fourteen stories about pesky snails, sleeping fruit, and one funky snowman.
Synopsis
Georgie Spider catches flies but never eats the little guys. Instead he cooks them up in pies. He doesn't use the legs or eyes or any artificial dyes . . . Not far from a greenish town, the Bathtub Driver is selling cut-rate imported shampoo. Georgie Spider serves up award-winning pies, while overhead on Highwire 66 there's a small problem causing an acrobat traffic jam. Ed's funny smell, Eliza's special jacket - they're all part of the picture in Polkabats and Octopus Slacks, fourteen stories about pesky snails, sleeping fruit, and one funky snowman. In the tradition of Edward Lear, Calef Brown has fashioned fourteen nonsense poems so zany that both young and old will be unable to suppress their laughter. Brown's invented words and sounds and their visual counterparts create both an audible and a visual feast. This is the kind of silliness children relish.
About the Author
'Calef Brown began his career as a tour guide at an early age, when he discovered the simple joy of pointing things out. He is also an artist, writer, and frequently a blue elephant. Mr. Brown\'s illustrations have appeared in many magazines and newspapers, and his paintings have been exhibited in N.Y., L.A., S.F., and other places without fancy initials, like Osaka and Rome. He can usually be found wandering the quaint cobblestone streets ofLos Angeles, California, or sleeping in the sun on a small island in Maine.'