Imagine That! Poems of Never-Was

by Jack Prelutsky

There's the Flotz who gobbles dots (watch out if you have freckles), the Phillyloo Bird and the Wendigo, the Hum Bug Machine and the Ogglewop...just try to imagine them! This glorious gathering of 50 poems about imaginary monsters, machines, and other weird things is guaranteed to poke, prod, tease, and tickle a child's own powers of imagination. Here are tales that are a little bit spooky, inspire creative thinking, and are downright funny from such poets as Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, John Ciardi, Spike Milligan, and of course Jack Prelutsky, along with the lively paintings of Kevin Hawkes. This collection is first rate!  

Genres: Poetry, Picture Books

48 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 1998

About the author

Jack Prelutsky is an American poet. He attended New York public schools, and later the High School of Music and Art and Hunter College. Prelutsky, who has also worked as a busboy, furniture mover, folk singer, and cab driver, claims that he hated poetry in grade school because of the way it was taught. He is the author of more than 30 poetry collections including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep< and A Pizza the Size of the Sun. He has also compiled countless children's anthologies comprised of poems of others'. Jack Prelutsky was married to Von Tre Venefue, a woman he had met in France. They divorced in 1995, but Jack remarried. He currently lives in Washington state with his wife, Carolyn. He befriended a gay poet named Espiritu Salamanca in 1997 and both now work together in writing poems and stories for children and adults alike.

Reviews

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun compilation of quirky, imaginative poems (including Dr. Seuss)! This is one I’d like to own.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars; has a somewhat "dated" feel, but still plenty of fun

[Marissa Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of poems written by various authors including Dr. Seuss, Lewis Carroll, Ogden Nash, and Jack Prelutsky. The poems vary in topic and style but all of them are deeply imaginative and full of fantasy.

I chose this book because the poems were entertaining and engaging, inspiring my own imagination, and I enjoyed the illustrations. This poetry would be excellent for reading aloud during those in-between times of the school day. One or two poems could be read by students or the teacher before recess or specialists or they could be read just for a mental break time.

Although the poems are silly and imaginative, I think this collection of poems could appeal to grade levels kindergarten to fourth grade. I think this book could be used in a poetry introduction because there are many styles shown. This would also be a great introduction to a creative writing lesson for students to think of their own monster and how they would describe it.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up because my son loved one poem so much that he memorized it and has been reciting it for us. Felt like a rather uneven collection - some were great, others less so. Some were famous/familiar, some new to us. Some were rather scary and wouldn't appeal to all children, others were sillier or more approachable. All are meant to be related to imagination and creativity, but the organization of the book is very loose and there is no official categorization to the poetry like you might see in a larger children's poetry collection.

[Leslie Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book turned out to be one of my favorite poem book! The illustrations in the book are very colorful and exciting. This book is a read aloud book in the class, that shouldn't be read all in now day. It should be split as every poem is exciting and is full of imagination. I think that because of that children will response very well to the poems. When reading out loud, I think the emphases should not only be one the poems themselves, but also the illustrations.

[Kristin Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of poems about animals, monsters, and people that do not actually exist. Children have great imaginations, so they will enjoy reading about made up creatures and events in these poems.

[Alyson Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bunch of poems is about different, wacky characters and their adventures. Each poem is written by a different authors, so they are all a little different. The poems are fun for children to read and interact with.

[Cheryl]

More verse than poetry. Most of the invented creatures are rather monstrous. Points for some of them being creations, inspiring youngsters to craft their own, but mostly it's just not to my taste.

[Mari]

I like the last poem~ "Did you know, if you try, you really can touch the sky?"

[Renee Parrish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine That! Poems of Never Was (1998) by Jack Prelutskey, Pictures by Kevin Hawkes, Fiction

This compilation of fifty very creative children's poems is humorous, catchy and bright. All the poems cover monsters, machines, and/or just plain "weird things." All the pages are styled as double-page spreads. The text is very interestingly placed inside parts of the illustrations, such as clouds or trees.
There is a great deal of imagination from the first page through the last page. It's hard to look away as you browse through the poems, because the reader will not want to miss any of the detail included (and there's a lot of it)! The"catchy" rhyming text of some of the poems, and, the pictures of "one-eyed" monsters, dragons in bathtubs, crazy hats and hair-do's, and the rainbow colors of the "Multikertwigo," will keep readers laughing and curious as to what "out of this world," creation will be on the next page.
In conclusion, I would love to read this to my youngest child, and I will definitely share it with the Kindergarteners I work with each day. Even as an adult, I laughed throughout the whole book! The "mish-mash" of the half animal and half alien creatures, plants, etc. were enough to get me hooked. I actually read the book twice, just to see what I might have missed in the humorous text, and the absolutely "off-the-wall" characters!

[Becky Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

Imagine That!

Grades 1st-4th

The illustrations by Kevin Hawkes are original and artistic but unappealing to me as a reader. The characters are all make believe monsters and strange things that have odd shapes, big heads and abnormal features. The imagery does match the text though and probably would appeal to a child who likes to make up funny characters and use their imagination a great deal. The poems all tend to rhyme and are longer in length then most children’s poems I have read so far.

Language Arts/Fine Arts

Language Arts Example: Use this book of poetry and a book that is more realistic to discuss which group of poems the students preferred and why they have that preference.

[Leah Sidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine That is a book filled with poems about imaginary things with the illustrations showing exactly what they look like, making this a very exciting book for students. Students love using their imagination and after reading this book, they can take their imaginations to a whole new level. For a literacy activity students can come up with their own imaginary thing like a monster or an invention and write about what it does, what its name, what it eats, and other descriptions like that. Students can also create their imaginary thing with items like toilet paper rolls, plastic containers, water bottles, and what ever other items they want to use. Students will absolutely love love this literacy and art activity.

[J.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the poem monster moms was cute I don't know why I think so. I would recommend it to anyone who like just some random poems that are really cute. I don't think anyone would hate it because there is a poem for everyone.

[Partridge Public]

Prelutsky, Jack

[Jennifer Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is great book to share with children to get their imaginations soaring!

[Dondero · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty cool.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a collection of poems by many authors, all illustrated with outlandish humor.