World Rat Day: Poems About Real Holidays You’ve Never Heard Of

J. Patrick Lewis, illus. by Anna Raff. Candlewick, $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-5402-3

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Lest readers forget to observe (actual) holidays like Worm Day (March 15) or Yell ‘Fudge!’ at the Cobras in North America Day (June 2), Lewis offers a lyrical reminder, with several of the special occasions crashed by a squadron of rats. In honor of Pink Flamingo Day (May 29), Lewis fashions a concrete poem: “A Flamingo is a long cooooooooool drink of something pink,” and for International Cephalopod Awareness Day, a scuba-diving rat with a toilet plunger greets a doe-eyed octopus: “I wish I was an octopus/ In inky-dinky weather./ Then you and I could octopush/ Our suction cups together.” Raff’s loose washes with ink details exude personality and humor (a skunk’s photo shoot has her posing next to a bottle of “Eau de Eeeew!”) in this gleefully silly crowd-pleaser. Ages 5–8. (Mar.)

Reviewed on: 01/07/2013
Release date: 03/12/2013

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