The Horn Book Guide

LITERATURE

Kennedy, X. J.

Exploding Gravy: Poems to Make You Laugh

117 pp. | Little | April, 2002 | Trade ISBN 0-316-38423-2 $$16.95

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Joy Allen. Divided into eight sections, this book provides every young reader with some reason to guffaw. It's not just gravy that explodes in this rambunctious collection: it's backyard volcanoes and Mother's nerves; it's baseball bats turned vampirish and Thrift-Rite Supermart frozen groceries that morph into an "instant storm." The exuberantly comic drawings spend as much time slipping off the page as they do staying on. Ind.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2002