Picture of author.

Jack Prelutsky

Author of The New Kid on the Block

115+ Works 28,038 Members 898 Reviews 16 Favorited

About the Author

Jack Prelutsky, born on September 8, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, is primarily known as a poet for children but he is also a gifted musician, actor, photographer, sculptor and potter. Prelutsky studied at Hunter College for two years. He proposed to his future wife, Carolynn, on the day they met; show more she accepted the next day. While growing up in Brooklyn, Prelutsky studied voice at The High School of Music and Art in New York and first planned to be an opera singer. However, he decided he did not have the drive to sing opera, and he became a folk singer. Later he tried his hand at drawing. For fun, he wrote some short poems and made some drawings, which became his first publication. He has since published numerous books of illustrated poetry and also provided illustrations for books by other writers, including many in translation. Prelutsky never condescends to his young readers. He deals in verse with many imaginative creatures, but he also writes about people and problems such bullies, school, and fear of the dark. He is aware of the sound of his words and likes to perform his poetry to the accompaniment of the guitar. He visits schools and libraries to perform his work. Jack Prelutsky is the recipient of numerous awards. In 1977 The Children's Book Council honored him for Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep. His other award-winners are The Mean Old Mean Hyena, The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight, and The New Kid on the Block. In 2006, the Poetry Foundation named Prelutsky the inaugural winner of the Children's Poet Laureate award. His book Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant and Other Poems (illustrated by Carin Berger) won the 2007 Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award of the Washington State Book Awards in the Picture Book category. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Library of Congress

Series

Works by Jack Prelutsky

The New Kid on the Block (1984) 2,272 copies
A Pizza the Size of the Sun (1996) 1,539 copies
Something Big Has Been Here (1990) 1,506 copies
It's Raining Pigs & Noodles (2000) 1,322 copies
It's Thanksgiving (1982) 1,012 copies
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young (1986) — Editor — 929 copies
What a Day It Was at School! (2006) 911 copies
I Like it Here at School (2003) 851 copies
It's Valentine's Day (1983) 637 copies
It's Christmas! (1981) 569 copies
Me I Am! (2007) 556 copies
If Not for the Cat (2004) 548 copies
Scranimals (2002) 478 copies
It's Halloween (1977) 470 copies
Awful Ogre's Awful Day (2001) 424 copies
Zoo Doings: Animal Poems (1983) 423 copies
Ride a Purple Pelican (1986) 413 copies
My Dog May Be a Genius (2008) 325 copies
Dinosaur Dinner (With a Slice of Alligator Pie) (1997) — Compiler — 307 copies
Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme (2005) 278 copies
The Carnival of the Animals (2010) 248 copies
Monday's Troll (1996) 241 copies
The Wizard (2007) 199 copies
I've Lost My Hippopotamus (2012) 158 copies
The Gargoyle on the Roof (1999) 141 copies
Beneath a Blue Umbrella (1990) 137 copies
The Baby Uggs Are Hatching (1825) 124 copies
The Terrible Tiger (1970) 114 copies
Poems of A. Nonny Mouse (1989) 113 copies
Awful Ogre Running Wild (2008) 101 copies
Circus (1974) 60 copies
Halloween Countdown (2002) 47 copies
Kermit's garden of verses (1982) 32 copies
Wild Witches' Ball (2004) 32 copies
My Creature (Early Success) (1995) 29 copies
The Mean Old Mean Hyena (1978) 18 copies
The queen of Eene (1968) 16 copies
The Way of Living Things (1993) 7 copies
Animals on Parade (1990) 4 copies
Twickham Tweer (1991) 3 copies
My Book About Me (1991) 2 copies
Mi Criatura (1997) 1 copy
The Horror 1 copy

Associated Works

Eric Carle's Animals Animals (1989) — Contributor — 2,225 copies
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! (1998) — Author — 1,423 copies
My Dog Does My Homework! (2004) — Contributor — 882 copies
Guys Write for Guys Read (2005) — Contributor — 774 copies
Here Come the Holidays! Stories and Poems (2005) — Contributor — 376 copies
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out (2008) — Contributor — 353 copies
The Family Read-Aloud Christmas Treasury (1989) — Contributor — 280 copies
Beware! (2002) — Contributor — 231 copies
The Big Book For Our Planet (1993) — Contributor — 135 copies
The Wild Baby (1980) — Translator, some editions — 104 copies
My Song Is Beautiful (1994) — Contributor — 67 copies
Witch Poems (1976) — Contributor — 63 copies
Monster Poems (1976) — Contributor — 24 copies
Witches (1981) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Bad Bear (1964) — Translator, some editions — 8 copies
Spirits Spooks and Other Sinister Creatures (1984) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Mountain-Bounder (1964) — Translator, some editions — 6 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 2, October 1976 (1976) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

animals (709) anthology (207) children (336) children's (604) children's book (87) children's literature (179) children's poetry (279) Christmas (216) collection (107) collection:Fiction (104) dinosaurs (169) dragons (106) Eric Carle (86) fantasy (151) fiction (601) funny (162) Halloween (162) hardcover (147) holiday (83) holidays (168) humor (539) Jack Prelutsky (108) juvenile (89) kids (85) literature (82) non-fiction (317) paperback (78) picture book (805) poems (657) poetry (5,848) rhyme (209) rhymes (164) rhyming (352) school (308) shelf:Fiction (104) short stories (102) Thanksgiving (209) to-read (115) Valentine's Day (95) winter (82)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

A beautifully illustrated collection of poetry from the 20th century. The poems are organized into one or two-page spreads with cohesive themes and illustrations. The poems are fun and interesting, striking a balance between relevance to children and expansive themes. The accompanying art is lovely and often directly references the poems.
 
Flagged
KristenRoper | 5 other reviews | May 24, 2024 |
This book goes through a collection of short poems. Each poem has their own topicand has a silly theme. These poems are all the author, Dennis Lee's, favorite poems

I recommend this fun book to primary students. It is great for new readers as they are short easy reading for the kids to stay! Would love to have this as an option for students in my library.
 
Flagged
kthomas22 | 24 other reviews | Apr 24, 2024 |
 
Flagged
LadyLast | 1 other review | Mar 23, 2024 |
I really liked this poem book. There are a lot of poems but some of the ones that I read were good and silly. I think maybe a first grader would be able to follow along with no issues. These poems are pretty long. They have good illustrations with every poem passage. It has really good children literature for sure. Good tongue twisters too.
 
Flagged
mdmanon | 75 other reviews | Mar 22, 2024 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
115
Also by
23
Members
28,038
Popularity
#722
Rating
4.0
Reviews
898
ISBNs
525
Languages
2
Favorited
16

Charts & Graphs