Module Fourteen: Awful Ogre's Awful Day

Follow Awful Ogre as he starts his day, his daily activities, and back to bed at the end of the day.

Bibliography: Prelutsky, Jack (2001). Awful Ogre's Awful Day. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

I really liked this book. At times, it could be a bit gross, but an ogre isn't a nice clean monster. I love how the poems had a rhythm that made them fun to read, and it felt a lot like a normal story, even in poem form.

Reviews:

Publishers Weekly

Prelutsky uncorks his latest collection of light verse, a divinely wretched celebration of subversity. Every detail of Awful Ogre's day offers possibility for gross-outs, from sunup ("I flick aside the lizard/ Clinging grimly to my chin,/ And now I feel I'm ready/ For my morning to begin") to sundown (a sly swat at Goodnight Moon as Awful Ogre drifts off to sleep with "Good night to furtive spiders/ That lurk in murky wells./ Good night to loathsome vermin/ With nauseating smells"). Whether he's writing a love letter to an ogress ("I long for the sight/ Of your craggy gray face,/ The might of your bone-breaking,/ Painful embrace") or puttering in the garden ("I'm growing carnivorous roses/ And oceans of overblown mold"), Awful Ogre proves an ideal agent for Prelutsky's oversize humor. Switching gears from the lushness of his Caldecott-winning Rapunzel, repeat collaborator Zelinsky presents Awful Ogre as a grotesque but goofy innocent, sillier than he is sinister. Awful may have only one eye and green hair, and a skunk might indeed curl up in his left nostril, yet he has a childlike sweetness as he dances (shown in a series of a dozen panels) or snuggles up in bed with his cactus. A virtuoso performance by two master funny-bone-ticklers. Ages 6-up. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

A series of eighteen imaginative verses, filled with gruesomely descriptive language, details the day of the ogre as told by himself. The rhythm of the rhymes changes with the subject, from disgusting meals and unusual love-letter to storm and bedtime, complete with reverse nightmares. The grisly, repulsive humor should appeal enormously to most kids; parents and teachers may find some hard to stomach through their laughter. Zelinsky draws the double-page scenes with devilish delight, tinting them with appropriate colors to enhance the graphic impact. Don't miss the borders, like that being torn on the jacket/cover by the ogre and repaired on the title page by tiny workers in hard hats. Many other inventive details are hidden throughout; both poems and illustrations will require many readings for full appreciation. 2001, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, $15.95. Ages 6 to 12. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

School Library Journal

Gr 1-5-This collection of 18 witty poems chronicles a day in the life of Awful Ogre. He towers over buildings and ordinary folk with his carpet of grass-green hair; red, bulbous nose; and single, large, green-and-yellow eye. He doesn't sound real cute, but underneath he's one swell guy. In "Awful Ogre's Breakfast," Prelutsky has fun with the normal breakfast routine. The spread depicts the ogre leaning back on his chair, gazing into his bowl of, yes, scream of wheat, complete with tongues and teeth. Children are sure to memorize Prelutsky's inventive verse and will avidly search the illustrations for their hidden jokes. Take for instance "Awful Ogre's TV Time," in which his favorite channel is the Chopping Network. In "Awful Ogre Dances," Prelutsky's prose stretches across the bottom half of the spread in perfect accompaniment to Zelinsky's dozen frames of Awful Ogre lithely (honestly) gliding across the top half. "I dance with abandon/Bravura, and zest,/I carom off boulders/And beat on my chest./I pirouette wildly/And leap into space/With power, panache,/And unparalleled grace." Even though Awful Ogre claims to be the awfulest of all, he remains awfully appealing throughout his rants and misadventures. Consider purchasing an extra copy-just in case he is checked out for an awfully long time.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

In a library setting this would be a good story time read to introduce kids to poetry. Or could be done with a teaching unit on poetry.

Cover rights belong to Paul O. Zelinsky