a PIZZA the size of the SUN

Poems by Jack Prelutsky
Drawings by James Stevenson

The creators of the bestselling
The New Kid on the Block and
Something Big Has Been Here

Greenwillow Books, $18
ISBN 0-688-13235-9

I'm making a pizza the size of the sun,
a pizza that's sure to weigh more than a ton,
a pizza too massive to pick up and toss,
a pizza resplendent with oceans of sauce.
I'm topping my pizza with mountains of cheese,
with acres of peppers, pimentos, and peas,
with mushrooms, tomatoes, and sausage galore,
with every last olive they had at the store.
My pizza is sure to be one of a kind,
my pizza will leave other pizzas behind,
my pizza will be a delectable treat
that all who love pizza are welcome to eat.

The oven is hot, I believe it will take
a year and a half for my pizza to bake.
I hardly can wait till my pizza is done,
my wonderful pizza the size of the sun.

Jack Prelutsky is widely acknowledged as the poet laureate of the younger generation. (And many people would happily see him crowned with no age qualification.) The New Kid on the Block and Something Big Has Been Here are household words wherever there are kids.

Here is another wondrously rich, varied, clever -- and always funny -- collection. Meet Miss Misinformation, Swami Gourami, and Gladiola Gloppe (and her Soup Shoppe), and delight in a backwards poem, a poem that never ends, and scores of others that will be chanted, read, and loved by readers of every age. The Prelutsky-Stevenson duo is irresistable. Whether you begin at the beginning or just open the book at random, you won't stop smiling.

If you are twelve or under, you have probably read -- and memorized -- at least one poem by Jack Prelutsky. He has written more than thirty books of verse, edited several enormously popular anthologies (and been extensively anthologized himself), translated a number of books, and is always at work on the poems for at least three future books. He has lived in Boston, Albuquerque, and Manhattan, but he says he is now happily settled in the Seattle area. Among his most popular books are The New Kid on the Block, Something Big Has Been Here, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, and Monday's Troll.

If you love to laugh, you are probably a fan of James Stevenson. He has written and illustrated many books for readers of all ages, and illustrated both The New Kid on the Block and Something Big Has Been Here.