the poetry, prose & paintings of Douglas Florian

My bath time ditty was inspired by some books of poetry we've been reading of late.  In all honesty, I'm not really into poetry.  I know it's supposed to be super-dee-duper helpful for kids learning to read, what with the rhyming (some of it anyway) and the meter of it and all that, but a lot of poetry I just find so dull or silly or ridiculous.  

Not that of Douglas Florian, however. 

I've already mentioned Dinothesaurus, which is a collection of his original poems and mixed media paintings.  This is one of the elder lad's favorite books.  He fancies himself the Barysaurus, which was something like 40 feet long.  Whenever queried, the younger lad is always a T-Rex.  

While we're still working our way through his stuff, of his poetry we also like Comets, Stars, The Moon, and Mars; Bow Wow Meow Meow: It's Rhyming Cats and Dogs; Zoo's Who; and In The Swim.  Florian's paintings, as he describes them, are complex yet accessible, clever, fun, and compliment the rich text superbly.

Interestingly, his earlier work was more prose-like, and much of it chronicles various trades and jobs people have or days in the life of various types of people.  We've liked An Auto Mechanic, Beach Day, A Carpenter, and A Potter.

Florian's prolific output provides fodder for multiple library trips.  And I have to give him lots of credit for my willingness to read poetry with my bambini after so many disappointments (One exception is Jack Prelutsky's Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More, illustrated by Chris Raschka -- one of my favorites.).

bath time

rub a dub dub
tré bambini in a tub

wet 'em down
lather 'em up

lots of toys bobbing 'round
spongy letters, boats and cups

the water not to slosh
else mama or daddy will be cross

in the shower they fare far better
(with or without the letters)

the definition of "potable"
pertinent and most notable
when one of 'em goes to drink
the concoctions they devise --
how they can improvise --
remember when we bathed them in the sink?

sudsy water = bambini magnet
look: there's some on the floor

all done!  c'mon out!
"no!" they say -- "more!"

already mayhem
what will we do when
there are four?