Silly Horse
by Vadim
Levin, illustrated by Evgeny Antonenkov
translated by Tanya
Wolfson and Tatiana Zunshine
Publishers Weekly
"Levin's
charming collection, first published in Russia in 1969, enters the 21st century
with a splash, thanks to Antonenkov's (Move Your Ears)
illustrations. The elongated people with skinny noses, pointed hats and wacky
flying hair, along with eccentric animals and lopsided houses, all brim with
personality (the houses sport umbrellas when it rains). at times the pictures
recall Lane Smith's with their earthy hues of somber green, gray and brown and
skewed perspectives. A page divided into panels tells the rollicking tale of "Jonathan
Bill,/ Who chased off the hill/ A bear in southern Peru." He also buys a
kangaroo and feeds a mean bull; the contrasting banality of the punch line gives
the poem its zing, and the artist plays it up with suitable melodrama. By
contrast, the art in the four-line poem "Mister Snow" evokes the tranquility of
a new snowfall; children stand beside wobbly brown row houses and a snow-covered
timepiece swings from a chain in the sky. Mr. Snow himself, a top-hatted,
ethereal fellow, inserts a carrot onto a snowman. Some poems tell absurd stories
with surprise twists, illustrated using before and after pictures. Finely
complemented by these inviting illustrations, Levin's humorous, memorable poems,
long enjoyed by Russian children, may well become new favorites of English
readers. Ages 3-up (Apr.) "
School Library Journal
"PreS-Gr
3-A collection of humorous, nonsensical poems. The language is playful and
light, and most of the entries are just a few stanzas long. The title poem
features a horse that has "four shoes with black rubber soles,/Two of them new,
but the others have holes." She wears her old shoes in rainy weather and saves
her best ones for nice days. "When it's muddy or icy, and folks slip and
slide,/The horse still goes out, but the shoes stay inside./Silly horse, don't
be concerned for a shoe!/Isn't your health more important to you?" The highly
stylized illustrations, done predominately in shades of brown and gray, add to
the quirky humor and allow the distinct personalities of the animals and people
to shine. Purchase where wacky verse is popular.-Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County
Library, Minnetonka, MN Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information."
Curious
Parent Magazine
"Take a
break from reality and step into a fantasy world with this collection of poems.
Only an expert, such as Levin, could incorporate positive messages into poems.
In the Tale of a Trunk, he illustrates the value of compromise by showing that
stubbornness gets you nowhere. Eccentric rhymes acted out by crazy characters
will stimulate your child's imaginative side. Giggle at the site of a horse
wearing shoes and crack up laughing when Mr. and Mrs. Bockley attempt to master
the art of cracking nuts with a telescope. Aboard the roller coaster ride as
words travel in all directions along the page, creating an unforgettable reading
experience."
Metrokids
"Vadim Levin’s Silly Horse is translated from Russian, but it seems to delight in the rhymes
and oddities of English. That might be because the author wrote them as though
translated from English, so coming back again, his poems have the air of whimsy
built around rhymes with dreamy fantasy illustrations by Evgeny Antonenkov."
Jerry Flack, professor of Gifted
Education, University of Colorado
*"Even
if the Supreme Court ultimately declares the law unconstitutional (freedom of
speech and all that!), Congress should immediately pass House and Senate Bills
"Silly Horse" that should read, "This book cannot be read silently anywhere at
any time in the United States." And, if the President fails to sign
Congressional Bill "Silly Horse," he deserves to meet Billy and Mabel's new
Persian cat. Just like that!
*Silly Horse* seems so fresh and original that it is impossible to believe that
Vadim Levin's masterpiece nonsense verse (reminiscent of the great works of
Lewis Carroll, especially Jabberwocky) was first published in Russia in 1969 and
has finally been translated into the English language in 2005.
Levin's verse is so colorful and exuberant that little ones will beg to hear it
read again and again, and slightly older children will crave to read it aloud
ceaselessly. Everyone of every age will fall in love with *Silly Horse* and
Levin's additionally remarkable and humorous poetry confections.
Try to read "A Little Poem About A Big Rain," aloud without smiling:
For a month the sky's been grey.
All we get is rain all day:
Soaking houses, trees, and leaves
Dripping noses, shoes, and sleeves,
Soggy ground is soaked right through,
Parks and fields are soaking too,
And too far away to see
Ships are soaking in the sea.
There is a wonderful point-counterpoint in many of the cleverest verses. A bull
and a turkey have a stalemate over the secret contents of a trunk, "Wicky-Wacky-Wocky
Mouse" had better be alert to the plans of the Wicky-Wacky-Wocky Cat, and "Billy
and Mabel" are no match for a newly in-house Persian cat. Every word of every
poem is an exquisite jewel perfectly set like fine rubies and diamonds.
The illustrations are marvelous. While clearly and singularly the masterworks of
Antonenkov in their great and humorous evocations of Levin's words, North
American readers may possibly view them as somewhat of a possibly bewitched
collaboration between Peter Sis and Lane Smith. A personal favorite is the
double-page blue-dominated spread for the simple poem, "Mr. Snow." Artist Evgeny
Antonenkov's snowy surreal tour de force art breathtakingly illustrates "Mr.
Snow, Mr. Snow/ Will you give another show?"/ "Yes, indeed, one day from now."/
"Thank you kindly, Mr. Snow." The use of white space for the huge amount of snow
present, the warmly dressed tiny children, the snow-crowned pine trees, and even
the old European houses their roofs saturated with snow -- seem all be making
this prayerful plea to Mr. Snow, who is made of snow flakes and flies through
the sky complete with top hat and obviously fully in control.
The design of the book is perfect, too, as is particularly evident in "A Green
Story" in which the delectable nonsense rhymes are alternately printed in black
and green inks. Here, the poem needs especially to be read aloud, but it also
deserves a careful viewing in order to realize its complete verbal and visual
splendor.
*Silly Horse* is a perfect children's picture book and nonsense verse anthology.
Everything from the words to the art is just perfect. Pick up a copy quickly,
read it through and through, and then join this author and hopefully millions of
other citizens in demanding the passage of the Congressional Bill "Silly Horse
Bill!" It should be nothing less than a national agenda."
