Product Description

To generations of children, Dennis Lee is known as a wizard of words, the author of such classics as Alligator Pie, Garbage Delight, The Cat and The Wizard, and the bestseller Bubblegum Delicious. With Jelly Belly, originally published in 1983, Lee created a new Mother Goose. As playful and hilarious as our traditional nursery rhymes, Jelly Belly combines toe-tapping poetry with the beguiling illustrations of Juan Wijngaard (winner of the Mother Goose Award). Jelly Belly is the ideal book-for children ages one to five, for older brothers and sisters, for parents, grandparents and any grown up who remains young at heart.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1636878 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4 The cover of this collection of original nursery rhymes is an immediate turn-off: a repulsive, cellulite-brindled slob in a rumpled undershirt showing plenty of spotted belly, formless neck and red, swollen nose. Not all of the watercolor illustrations are unappealing, however. Many are pleasantly whimsical and vary from cartoon-like to realistic, portraying scenes of fantasy and reality. They often encompass the whole page, surrounding the poem or poems, but sometimes are scattered around the page in vignettes. The pictures are more original than the poems, which range from short to overly long. Many of them resemble traditional Mother Goose rhymesa boy builds a house in a shoe, a trio of characters go to sea in an unlikely object and "There Was an Old Lady" is a thinly disguised Old Mother Hubbard . There are original and clever rhymes and even gentle lullabies; other entries are poems reminiscent of Sandburg or Milne. Fingerplays and games are included, and many poems seem influenced by street rhymes. Some poems are silly enough to amuse, yet others are pointless. Initially the inside looks bright and attractive, with an appealing format, but the collection will never compete with those by Silverstein or Prelutsky. Annette Curtis Klause, Montgomery County Libraries, Md.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"...Lee's rhyme schemes are simple and fast, his rhythm flawless..." -- Quill & Quire

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, read-out-loud, kid-friendly
"Jelly Belly" is a book of modern nursery rhymes, along with some very wonderful illustrations. The rhymes generally have a great read-aloud rhythm, and are variously funny, tender, surprising. My daughter loves them and so do I. She's 2 now, and I'm sure this book would have appealed to her much earlier, and will continue to appeal for years.

Jelly Belly
This is undoubtely the most enjoyable children's book my family has ever owned. The illustrations are amazing in detail and interest, and the prose is engaging, charming, funny, and a delight to read aloud. As our all time favorite, we read it as a family several times a week while the children were younger, often from cover to cover. Now that the kids are adults, we still get it out from time to time and enjoy it as much as ever. I am ordering a brand new copy to enjoy with my first grandaughter who'll be born next month. I highly recommend it!

funny and memorable
i owned this book as a child and although some of the poems and illustrations are really gross - there are some really funny ones which used to make my siblings and I laugh aloud!
most of the illustrations are really amazing, with lots of detail.
this book is great for reading aloud and gives kids a feel for the melody and rythym poetry and ryhmes.