Bibliography: Florian, Douglas. MAMMALABILIA. Florida: Hardcourt Inc. 2000. Print

ISBN: 9781415536094

 

Mammalabilia offers its readers a menagerie of twenty-one marvelous poems about twenty-one amazing mammals.

Douglas Florian uses the rhythm and rhyme of the verses to create a fun and upbeat feeling, which encourages and invites you to read the poems out loud.  At times Florian intentionally misspells words in order to preserve the rhythm and rhyme of the poem.  For instance, in the poem The Aardvarks he adds an extra “a” to all of the words that contain an “a” (Aardvarks aare staark).  Additionally, Florian applies an assortment of poetic features such as alliteration, repetition and concrete form (the camel’s humps or the lemur’s tail).  However, the feature which truly distinguishes these poems is Florian’s whimsical manipulation of the words in the poems.  For example he changes September into Septem-bear and porcupine into porcupins, popcuskin and porcupain.     

The humorous and informative poems are accompanied by illustrations done in gouache on printed brown paper bags.  Although, these illustrations appear as if they were created by a child, you can easily see that they were indeed created by an adult when you look at the very intentional humor depicting literal interpretations of the poems. For example, in the poem The Lynx, the words say that wearing lynx fur coats stinks, and in the illustration a woman is wearing a live lynx that is covering his nose with one paw, indicating that something stinks.

Mammalabilia will appeal to a young audience.  It is well organized and contains a table of contents.  Furthermore, each poem is featured alone on the even pages accompanied by a full page illustration on the odd pages.  Although this book does not contain information about Douglas Florian it does contain information about the technique that he used to create the illustration.

Activities:

Poetry: Look at the book in terms of rhyming words. What is the pattern? Does it help the enjoyment of the wording to have some of the words rhyme? Have students try to write their own animal-inspired poetry.

Science: Read this book as an introduction into the characteristics of mammals or animal adaptation. 

 

Recommended Animal Poetry Books by Douglas Florian:

§  Insectlopedia

 

§  Dinothesaurus

 

§  Bow wow meow meow

 

§  Lizards, frogs and pelliwegs

§  In the swim

§  On the wing

§  Beast feast

§  Monster motel

 

Reviews:

Readers will find a variety of rhyme schemes; meters; and forms featuring puns, concrete poems, litanies, and lists. A large painting, done in gouache on primed brown paper bags, appears on one side of the double page with a poem set on the other. The artist's renderings draw readers into the poem and invite repeated viewings after reading the verse. Pair this title with Mary Ann Hoberman and Malcah Zeldis's A Fine Fat Pig (HarperCollins, 1991) to show children the diversity of images that animals may evoke for poets and artists. Florian has created a zoological garden of delights. (Excerpt from Book Review, 2000)

Florian's humor is eccentric, but just right for his target audience. The gouache illustrations painted on primed brown paper bags, full of unusual textures and inventive designs, match the creativity of the word play. The otter lounges in a claw-foot bathtub reading a book titled H2O. Florian specializes in the unexpected. For instance, the rhebok stands in its tennis shoes because its "main/ Claim to fame/ Is its name." The artwork taps into childlike qualities without being simplistic; the animal portraits are clever yet appropriate. An irresistible homage to mammal memorabilia. (Excerpt from Publishers Weekly, 2000)

References:

Chatton, Barbara. "Mammalabilia (Book Review)." School Library Journal 46, no. 4 (April 2000): 119. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2014).

"forecasts: Children's Books." Publishers Weekly 247, no. 11 (March 13, 2000): 84. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed February 22, 2014).