MODULE 3: A PIZZA THE SIZE OF THE SUN

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Prelutsky, Jack. 1996. A PIZZA THE SIZE OF THE SUN. New York: Greenwillow Press. ISBN 0688132367

PLOT SUMMARY:
A PIZZA THE SIZE OF THE SUN is a collection of humorous poems by Jack Prelutsky. There are poems about animals, MANTEE and AN UNOBSERVANT PORCUPINE, and about interesting people, DAN, THE INVISIBLE MAN and LESTER. Some of the poems are about everyday items, I PUT THE CAT OUT and HURRY GRANDMA HURRY while others are about new invented and fantastical items, AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL ALIEN and THE JELLYBEAN BRIGADE. Various poetry styles and techniques are used throughout the text. Mr. Prelutsky plays with grammar and punctuation conventions. He includes concrete poems. Irony and word play are seen in many of the poems in this collection.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This collection of poems was published 11 years ago. However, Jack Prelutsky has written poems that are timeless in their appeal to people of all ages. There are no cultural references or other topic choices that interfere with a reader’s ability to pick up the book and understand the poems. A reader in 50 years could read these poems and experience the same joy as a reader who read them the day they were first published. They also transcend racial boundaries. The topics of the poems are not racially or ethnically specific. Many of them successfully bridge a gap that has existed for many years.
Jack Prelutsky is the only poet included in this book. He is a very famous and prolific poet. He wrote every poem, and many of the poems have illustrations by James Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson’s illustrations are simple gray cartoon sketches. They accompany many of the poems. They add further meaning and fun to the poems. They are not overwhelming and are not limiting. Not one of the illustrations changed the mental image this reviewer had created regarding a poem. They do not overpower; they blend in and complement each poem.
There is a balanced variety of poems included in this collection. If a reader is interested in animals, there are many poems about animals; if a reader is interested in crafty word plays, there are many poems that include this element. The text is organized in a seemingly haphazard way. The poems are not grouped by type, style, or topic. Rather the seemingly random nature of the organization keeps the reader guessing as to what the next poem is going to be about. If all of the poems that introduced the reader to an interesting imaginary person were lumped together into a chapter, this would be tedious and could lead to students boring of that type of poem. However, they are sprinkled throughout the book so they seem new with each turn of the page.
The rhythmic flow of the poems is amazing. Some of the poems have a rhyme scheme, and others have a free flow type of rhyme scheme—meaning that some of the lines rhyme but it may change within the poem to accommodate the words chosen. It makes them have a “sing-song” quality that appeals to the young. Whether all lines rhyme or not, all of the poems have a cadence or a type of musical flow in them. I’M PROUD OF MY PREPOSTERPUS is a good example of a mix of rhyme style. The second and the fourth lines and the sixth and eighth lines in each stanza rhyme. This means that there are several rhyme structures in each stanza and some lines that do not rhyme at all. However, even without a rhyme at the end of each line, when reading the poem, a musical beat emerges as it is read.
Many of the poems include interesting language games. Mr. Prelutsky uses real words and invented words to suit the purpose of the poem. Language and grammar conventions also fall victim to Mr. Prelutsky. He seems to enjoy visual oddities. He writes entire poems as mirror images, EGAME RORRIM RUOY MA I, with every word written backwards, BACKWARDS FORWARDS SILLY RHYME; with capital letters throughout, I’M ALL MIXED UP. He also includes concrete poems such as A DIZZY LITTLE DUZZLE. These types of visual antics appeal to children’s sense of the absurd. Many of them have just mastered the traditional convention of language and grammar. To see it misused and abused is comical to most children. Word play seems to be a prevalent aspect of many of the poems. PLEASE REMOVE THE SEAL is a wonderful example. A person is instructed to remove the seal before using a product. He doesn’t have a seal so he tosses out a walrus. The pure silliness of this will appeal to younger children, and the word play will appeal to older students. The definition of the word SEAL is misused which leads to a comical outcome.
This reviewer had many favorite poems in this collection. However three poems stand out in this reviewer’s mind. The first is I DO NOT WISH TO GO TO SCHOOL. This poem appeals to this reviewer as a parent. The child tells the mom that she is not going to school and threatens to eat a worm if she is forced to go. The mother calls the child’s bluff by presenting worms ready to be eaten. The child quickly changes her mind and is off to school. This poem could be a mantra for parents everywhere.
The second is HURRY GRANDMA HURRY. In this poem, a child is performing amazing tricks and stunts for his/her grandmother. The child seems so proud of his/her actions and seems to believe the grandmother will be also. At the end of each stanza the reader hears Grandma’s real reaction, which includes screaming, crying, and fainting. This poem is appealing and funny because it is true. The child is performing amazing feats while the adults around are panicking and praying for the child’s safety.
Lastly, the poem I’M PRACTICALLY COVERED WITH NEEDLES AND PINS provides a fantastic chuckle. The writer describes how his/her entire body is covered with various metal objects. The reader, or at least this reviewer, was anticipating that the main character is a robot. The last line clears up all mystery “I doubt that I’ll swallow a magnet again”. Classic!


REVIEW EXCERPTS:

*PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Starred Review
*PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Best Book of the Year 1996
*From BOOKLIST “Prelutsky is up to his old tricks, using verbal sleight of hand to create another magical anthology of light verse… A delightful addition to poetry collections that will not stay on the shelf for long. ” Carolyn Phelan
*From SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL : “If you can only afford one poetry collection this year, make it this one” Carrie Schadle

CONNECTIONS:
Jack Prelutsky biography
Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More - Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky homepage—contains bright illustrations and sample poems; a large variety of teacher resources, lesson plans and other classroom activities.
Jack Prelutsky

Activities using a poem from the text:
1) I’M PRACTICALLY COVERED WITH NEEDLES AND PINS: After reading the poem, draw a picture of what the person in this poem could look like with all of these items attached to himself/herself.
2) BACKWARDS FORWARDS SILLY RHYME: After seeing the style the poet used to write, write own sentences in this style. Using a mirror decipher a classmates sentence and progress into a mathematics lesson about reflections, also known as flips.
3) GLOPPE’S SOUP SHOPPE: Using the list of soups provided in the poem, students should write recipes for these various types of soup.

Additional activity:
1) Many of these poems contain vocabulary that the young students have not seen. First, have a vocabulary scavenger hunt. Students must search the book and find at least 7 words that they do not know the meaning for. Next, using context clues students assign meaning. The teacher will incorporate some of the vocabulary into a “Word of the Week” activity—encouraging students to use these words.