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Jack Prelutsky
By Lee Bennett Hopkins
Start the new school year with the works of this treasured poet
Jack Prelutsky, (above) poet and chocolate-chip cookie aficionado, features 17 poems all about school in his latest book (right).
Begin the new school year by celebrating Jack Prelutsky's birthday on September 8, while sharing his latest collection, What a Day It Was at School! (Greenwillow, 2006). Jack wittily pens l7 selections about school day topics such as a thousand-pound backpack, a field trip to a candy factory and a history lesson: "There's one thing I'm learning/That makes me think, "Wow!"/ We're all part of history--/It's happening now."
Jack has been entertaining readers for close to 40 years. While working in a Greenwich Village music store in New York City, he began drawing imaginary animals, later writing verses to accompany them. His work was brought to the attention of the legendary editor, Susan Carr Hirschman. His first book, A Gopher in the Garden (Macmillan), appeared in 1967.
Poetry for garage mechanics
In addition to easy-to-read collections such as the recently reissued It's Snowing! It's Snowing!: Winter Poems (HarperCollins, 2006), Jack is also well-known for his popular collections, The New Kid on the Block (Greenwillow, l984), Something Big Has Been Here (Greenwillow, l990) and A Pizza the Size of the Sun (Greenwillow, 1996).
Despite an adulthood immersed in verse, poetry and Prelutsky were not always a favorite duo."I was born in Brooklyn, NY, grew up in the Bronx," he states. "I didn't want to hear poems about the village blacksmith; I wanted to hear poems about garage mechanics, about children like myself, my friends, outer space or sports. When I discovered poetry in my twenties, I decided I would write about things that girls and boys really cared about, and I would make poetry delightful."
Delicious poetry
"Good poetry is simple, universal, accessible and direct," Jack says. "It catches your ear or your mind...a good poem is delicious – as delicious as a chocolate-chip cookie!"
Jack and his wife, Carolynn, live in Seattle, WA. Right now he might just be munching on a chocolate-chip cookie while writing a new poem or two -- just for you.
Lee Bennett Hopkins is a distinguished poet and anthologist. Recent collections include Got Geography! (Greenwillow, 2006).
