LIZARDS, FROGS, AND POLLIWOGS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 2001. LIZARDS, FROGS, AND POLLIWOGS. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 015202591X


PLOT SUMMARY
There is not a plot in this book. This book contains twenty-one original poems written by Florian about reptiles and amphibians. He writes poems about some of the more unusual reptiles and amphibians that are not usually the subject of poetry. For example, he has a poem about several types of frogs and toads such as: the midwife toad, glass frog, wood frog, red-eyed tree frog, the bullfrog, and poison-dart frogs. The Komodo Dragon even has his own poem! These poems are just the type of reading that children love to do-- poems about the unusual, strange, and scary creatures of the world.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Florian uses a variety of rhythms and sounds in his poems that really hook the children in. For example, in his poem The Skink he uses rhyming words and the pattern of AA, BC. The poem reads as follows:"Along the ground I'm found--I slink./Through grass I pass--I am a skink./Bite my tail and it releases./I don't fight back--/I fall to pieces." However, in The Gecko the pattern is AA,BB--"Across the ceiling it may roam,/But don't you try this in your home./The gecko's trick is climbing walls./Like glue it sticks and rarely falls."

The Gecko is also a clever poem in the way that the verses are written on the page. The reader can actually get a visual through Florian's watercolor illustration and in the mind's eye of the gecko walking around on the ceiling because the verses are written in such a way to form a square, like the actual four walls in a room that form the ceiling. Florian is as adept an illustrator as he is a writer. His watercolor illustrations bring his words to life and give readers an idea about what these amphibians and reptiles look like even when they performing human like acts as in The Newt who is wearing an orange suit. The reader can see what a newt looks like while at the same time realizing that a newt cannot do what is being illustrated-sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper, drinking a cup of coffee, wearing an orange suit. Florian truly has a gift for writing and illustrating about topics that fascinate children.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:"Twenty-one poems, each about a particular amphibian or reptile, are full of surprises, and are a delight to read aloud."

CONNECTIONS
A couple of other books that involve animals and poetry are:
Oyer, Kalyn Aimar. CRITTER JITTERS. ISBN 1419626884
Davies, Gill. FUN SIZE. ISBN 185479230X

Other poetry books of Florian's that deal with non-humans are:
insectlopedia. ISBN 0152163352
BEAST FEAST: POEMS. ISBN 0152017372
bow wow meow meow: it's rhyming cats and dogs. ISBN 0152163956
in the swim. ISBN 0152024379
on the wing. ISBN 0152023666
mammalabilia. ISBN 0152050248