Floyd the Flamingo and His Flock of Friends
by Tiffany Stone. Illustrated by Kathryn Shoemaker

There is a certain kind of mess in my 10-year-old daughter's room that I have a very high tolerance for. That is, books strewn all over the bed and carpet... review by Magnifico

Floyd the Flamingo and His Flock of Friends, author Tiffany Stone's first book, comes highly recommended, bearing blurbs by two of Canada's best poets for younger children - Robert Heidbreder and Sheree Fitch. Stone's collection, dedicatd to her three children, draws on the intimate experience of a child's day, but her poetry goes beyond the everyday, to the whimsical. The poems are divided into four sections - Floyd's Flock, Day Play, Silly Play and Night Play. For the most part, the division works well to provide a loose framework for the collection.
Children will enjoy the empathy and sly humour of Stone's animal poems, in which flamingos tire of standing on one foot and Fluffy the Great Dane longs for a name that will afford him the respect he deserves. Things are not quite as they seem. A kite is afraid of heights! Lines between human and animal blur, with amusing results. A monkey worries when his monkey mom suddenly starts acting too serious (human). Cats are brave and robins are allergic to spring! Bath time, towards the end of the book, involves a pig and lots of mud.
Some of the best poems, "My Sister is a Viking," "Being Bad" and "I'm Sick Today" celebrate the mischief of children and their playful imagination. Like Maurice Sendak's Max in Where the Wild Things Are, Stone's children want to play: "We'll raise a wild RUCKUS/all over the town/till we wake up the moon/and the stars tumble down!" Stone's verse scans well and passes the acid test of being read aloud with gusto.
Artist Kathryn Shoemaker, interviewed in the Winter 2004 issue of Book News, has illustrated over 30 books for children, including My Animal Friends and A Telling Time (see page 28 in this issue). In this collection, her expressive black-and-white scratchboard illustrations perfectly complement the poems' crossover between animals and children. Her frolicking chilren wear bird costumes, but her allergic robin pulls tissues out of a box with his beak in a realistic bird-like motion. The book's design allows for a refreshing variety. On some pages the illustrations appear almost as ornament; on others they float across two-page spreads, allowing Shoemaker to capture the motion of an itchy dog or a duck sliding on ice. --from Book Bits, New Poems for a Child's Day, Canadian Children's Book News, Spring 2005

Dr. Andrea Deakin's News and Reviews of Children's Literature

Still on the subject of language and its fancies, Floyd the Flamingo and His Flock of Friends ... by John Burns, The Georgia Straight

ON POETRY
Tiffany Stone�s first book of children�s poems, Floyd the Flamingo, re-minds one of the delightful perspective that comes out of good children�s poetry, which looks straight at something but always, seems askance because it is the lopsided world view of a child. Consider, "What flavour is a jellyfish? Strawberry? Grape? Or peach? Or does it taste like ocean, With just a hint of beach?"
Or-this one, about a Great Dane with an unfortunate and unlikely name: "Fluffy�s not a dog�s name. It�s way too small and cute. I am NOT a Fluffy. I�m a massive brute." Or Nighttime Rhyme: "I eat the stars like candy. They tingle and they fizz. And when my belly�s finally full, I�m amazed how dark it is."
The B.C. poet�s spare and funny verse is captured perfectly by Kathryn Shoemaker�s playful blackand- white illustrations.--By Anne Marie Owens, National Post, September 11, 2004



Can Emma find the four magic wands (Water, Earth, Air and Fire) before the evil druid Eefa? Will she ever see her family alive again? Can she trust Tom, her Watcher, although he keep secrets from her? These are some of the questions posed in The Finder (Kids Can Press, 410 pages, $9), the third novel in Winnipeger Margaret Buffie's trilogy set in the game-playing world of Argadnel. Like her previous two books, The Watcher and The Seeker, Buffie's novel overflows with strange characters (e.g. Cill, a "leaf person," and Finn, "a selkie" half man, half seal) and even stranger adventures. Buffie's creativity and ingenuity are admirable, but it requires a three-page list of characters (luckily, supplied) to keep the protagonists straight. Her characters are consistent, if not always likable. Emma (also called Ena, and formerly Winter) is a courageous, daring but somewhat bossy young woman. Tom, while loyal and caring, never seems to believe in her abilities and constantly tries to take over control. Will fantasy fans find this novel riveting enough to finish over 400 pages? Will the super cast of characters cause readers to give up in frustration? These are just two of the dangers faced by The Finder. However, Buffie's many fans will probably persevere to help Emma, and Buffie, complete her quest. Good books of humorous poetry for young children are rare, but Floyd the Flamingo by Tiffany Stone (Tradewind Books, 65 pages, $10, paperback) can be counted among this exclusive company. Vancouver first-time author Stone has a delightful sense of the ridiculous: a kite that is scared of heights, a robin that has hay fever and a "Mummy" who is "mysteriously serious." The black-and-white illustrations by Kathryn Shoemaker add a whimsical touch. As poet Sheree Fitch has commented on this book, "In a world that largely makes no sense making nonsense makes sense." Parents will enjoy reading these poems to preschoolers and beginning readers will chuckle over them.
Winnipegger Helen Norrie is a former teacher/librarian whose column appears on the third Sunday of the month.--By Helen Norrie, the Winnipeg Free Press September 19, 2004

Thirty years ago, Dennis Lee published his now-classic book of children's poetry, Alligator Pie. It was the first of a series that has earned him the unofficial title of Canadian poet laureate for the preschool crowd. But it wasn't the first of its kind. That honour goes to the long-out-of-print Wiggle to the Laundromat, published four years earlier - in 1970 - by a small house in small numbers. Wiggle to the Laundromat resulted when Canadian artist Charles Pachter plucked various poems from a manuscript Lee had been working on (he's a poet for adults as well as kids). Pachter used his own lithographs, drawings and collage work to illustrate it, creating an oversize children's book that for many years later could only be found in libraries. Those who were lucky enough to encounter it, however, came away with verse that took root in the memory bank and could be called up again decades later. Just as Alligator Pie, one of the poems in that earlier volume, became part of the chant of childhood in Canada. So what does all that have to do with this title? I'm not sure, except that the sight of Floyd the Flamingo - albeit a small paperback volume and not an oversized hardcover book - reminded me of Wiggle to the Laundromat. The black-and-white illustrations by Kathryn Shoemaker, with their woodcut-scratchboard look, reminded me of the images in Wiggle - although Shoemaker's are considerably more kid-friendly than Pachter's were. And the rhymes offered here by Tiffany Stone reminded me of the ones offered 34 years ago by Dennis Lee. Stone's are every bit as nonsensical and they, too, have a lively rhythm. Take this one, for example:What flavour is a jellyfish? Strawberry? Grape? Or peach? Or does it taste like oceanwith just a hint of beach? If you spread some on a sandwich, will the sand get in your teeth? And how would peanut butter taste with jellyfish underneath? Or how about the ode to the crab apple, which begins: "It's small. / It's sour. / It's crude. / It's not a happy apple. / It's got crabby appletude." But my favourite is the one toward the end of the book - a poem perfect for bedtime: I eat the stars like candy. They tingle and they fizz. And when my belly's finally full, I'm amazed how dark it is. It's not easy to follow in Lee's footsteps. He's honed his craft for decades now. His verses sing and stick with the listener; they're rich in images that talented illustrators have been more than happy to put on paper. But Stone and Shoemaker are no slouches either. This is the author's first book of nonsense verse, but Shoemaker has a variety of children's books to her credit. With Wiggle to the Laundromat, Dennis Lee was new to children's verse. So who knows? Thirty-four years from now, Floyd the Flamingo might prove to have been another calling card into Canadian children's lit. Ages 4 to 10. --Following in Dennis Lee's footsteps. Montreal Gazette Saturday, August 7, 2004 BERNIE GOEDHART

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