I am the Illustrator of 45 books for kids, 9 of which I authored as well. I have always been attracted to joyful nonsense. I am drawn to books and writings that turn norms on their heads. From the time I was super young, my favorite poem has been Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” with its delightful slithy toves gyring and gimbling in the wabe. In fact, of the books I’ve written to date, every one has had some kind of nonsensical element to it.
This gorgeous book is set like a stage and populated with a variety of bugs who speak a language invented by the author. Within the short space between the covers, our cast experiences the full gamut of life, death, villainy, victory, nature, building, community, beauty, growth, decay, loss, hope, and transformation – an amazing feat! While the invented language is full of delightfully silly words, every sentence can be accurately decoded by tracking how individual words and phrases are reused and by looking for context clues. A sampling of the nonsense you’ll find: “Du kimma plonk?” “Iz unk gladenboot.” “Booby voobeck!”
The creator of Home explores the astonishing changes in a garden, where insects talk their own mysterious language.
In her follow-up to the internationally acclaimed Home, Carson Ellis invites readers to imagine the dramatic possibilities to be found in the natural world ... even the humblest back garden! With gorgeous, exquisitely-detailed illustration that will appear to children and art-lovers alike, and a wonderfully playful invented language, we soon find ourselves speaking "Bug" ... Du iz tak? What is that?
The works of Dr. Seuss are known for their imaginative creatures, landscapes, and language. Why, his name has even led to the creation of the adjective “Seussian” to describe something playful, inventive, fantastical, or whimsical. Possibly the most purely Seussian Seuss is “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket” which consists solely of imaginary creatures, rhyming nonsense, and nothing else getting in the way. Some of the great words you’ll encounter: Wasket, Woset, Bofa, Yottle, and Nooth Grush
Join Dr. Seuss on the road to reading with a host of crazy creatures, from wockets in pockets to waskets in baskets!
Is there a woset in your closet, or a nink in the sink? As that would be rather nice, I think! Learn all about rhymes and fun with words in this classic Dr. Seuss title.
With his unique combination of hilarious stories, zany pictures and riotous rhymes, Dr. Seuss has been delighting young children and helping them learn to read for over fifty years. Creator of the wonderfully anarchic Cat in the Hat, and ranking among the UK's…
Did you know that leatherback turtles can weigh up to 2,000 pounds? Or that the Florida softshell turtle can breathe through its snout and its skin? Turtles have been around for millions of years, and we’re still learning more about them!
With simple language and vivid photographs, Totally Turtles! is…
The catchy sing-song rhyming text is a delight for both tongue and ear. Packed with alliteration, consonance, and nonsensical compound words, this book is a super fun read-aloud. The artwork is just as wild and surreal as the text, showcasing swaying toast trees, tumbling blueberry waterfalls, and bursting strawberry fireworks. Here are some of my favorite nonsense words found inside: Jamble, Canoeberry, Boomberry, Razzamatazzberry, Clickety-clackberry
This bestselling classic features a berry-loving boy and an endearing rhyme-spouting bear. The fun wordplay and bright paintings with lots of details for young readers to explore make Jamberry a perennial favorite, and this board book edition is a great stocking stuffer. A small boy and a big friendly bear embark on a berry-picking extravaganza, looking for blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. Their fun adventure comes to a razzamatazz finale under a starberry sky. From author-illustrator Bruce Degen, Jamberry is perfect for sharing. "With delightful, rich illustrations and zany wordplay, Jamberry is a must have book for any family with young…
A little cave boy from another world hops through his day while encountering bizarre-looking flora and fauna with equally funny names. He is greeted in the morning, afternoon, and night with a friendly “Zoodle Oop” “Yoop Dooz” and “Good Zap.” The pages blend a perfect mixture of alien and familiar. Give the book a whirl and you’ll be enjoying gems like these: “The ooglets are tuzzling…” “…all the blue zamblots are covered in flumms,” “A tiny paroobie is churling ‘Zlink-zlink!’”
Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town in the late 1800's. Beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. But at age twelve, she’s orphaned. Running away to join the circus—like kids do in adventure books—seems like…
One might assume that nonsense words are inherently bound to the realms of wackiness and humor. Not so. Here is a book that is poignant, tender, sincere, and full of heart. An old faithful dog nears his final hours with his young owner and narrates the sights and sounds of his last day from his own perspective using his own unique words for things. Trees are tallsticks, memories are waybacks, and the child is his foreverfriend. The illustrations are soft, warm, and full of color. The pictures serve to ground and comfort, contrasting (and therefore balancing) the unusual words we hear and unfamiliar experience the characters are slowly approaching. Some made-up words I love: Gurgleburble, Diggiedirt, Fuzzhoppers, Rumbledrumming.
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey meets Dog Heaven in this profoundly beautiful book about the special relationship between kids and dogs, the importance of language, and finding the meaning of life even in its final days.
Poignant, hopeful, and lovingly told, this dog's journey-told by the dog himself in his own unique words-proves that love abides beyond a lifetime, out of sight but never far away.
As a dog and his little girl go on their final walk together, he experiences the sights, smells, and wonders of this world one last time before peacefully passing on. But for such a…
On the surface the book is about a hippo with hiccups and the disasters caused by such a large creature’s ailment. But really it is about nonsense: vivid pink trees and yellow elephants, medical cures that involve licorice and buffaloes, and delicious nonsense words.There was a hippopotamus / Who hiccupped quite a-lot-amus / And every time he got'emus / He'd fall upon his bottomus.
I really didn’t have any particular interest in writing a story about an animal who can’t control his bodily functions. But… the chance to craft and then read words like “bottomus,” “yellowphant” “cementipede,” and “dental flosserous”? Sign me up! It’s all about the nonsense.
Nine Stories Told Completely in Dialogue is a unique collection of narratives, each unfolding entirely through conversations between its characters. The book opens with "God on a Budget," a tale of a man's surreal nighttime visitation that offers a blend of the mundane and the mystical. In "Doctor in the…
The constellation we know as Taurus goes all the way back to cave paintings of aurochs at Lascaux. This book traces the story of the bull in the sky, a journey through the history of what has become known as the sacred bull.
