Ride a Purple Pelican by Jack Prelutsky is a wonderful ride through the world of poems and rhyme with an exotic cast of animals to equally unusual destinations.
Summary
A rollicking trip to places as distant as the moon and as close as the back yard, this book takes a flight of fancy to a whole new level. Colorful pictures enhance the imaginative vocabulary and complement the playfulness of the rhyming verse.
Animals and people travel the pages in equal measure from an avocado cat dancing with a boy who has a watermelon hat to a girl who rides a mouse to Cincinnatti.
These fun rhymes and illustrations are sure to put a smile on the faces of young and old alike.
Impressions
These rhymes are a great way to introduce poetry, but also have a wealth of geography and vocabulary which could spark questions and discussion. The vivid and colorful pictures will captivate children and they will definitely run into words they are not familiar with as they wind their way through the book.
Professional Reviews
With this book of new rhymes, readers will discover a modern-day alternative to Mother Goose. Twenty-nine wonderfully rhythmic chants introduce such colorful characters as Hannah Banana, who “Walked on her hands from Montana to Maine,” and Minnie and Moe, who “went to Chicago/ to see the wind blow.” Prelutsky’s rhymes are rich in language, story, humor, and sensory content. But the joy of this book is not just the rhymes - it’s also Williams’ glorious, brightly colored pictures, which bring the words to life. These pictures faithfully show episodes from the poems while extending and enhancing the text.
Mellon, 1986
A new collection of bouncy nonsense rhymes is aurally inviting with rhythm, onomatopoeia, and alliteration. . . . Since his debut as a children's book illustrator in 1948, Garth Williams has produced a distinguished body of work usually associated with subdued color and soft-edged drawing and with animals that—like those of Beatrix Potter—retain their natural appearances. Now, adapting his style to Prelutsky's racy verses, the artist has made forthright full-page pictures chiefly characterized by absurd humor and flamboyant color. Occasionally, when a rhyme assumes a lyrical tone, the illustration takes on a more poetic feeling.
Heins, 1987
Library Uses
Students could have maps to track the places that are mentioned in the poems or there could be a large map and students could put stickers on the places as they are mentioned in the poems.
References
Heins, E. L. (1987). Ride a purple pelican. Horn Book Magazine, 6366.
Mellon, C. A. (1986). Ride a purple pelican. School Library Journal, 3382.
Prelutsky, J., & Williams, G. (1986). Ride a purple pelican. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
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