Kid Konnection: There Once Was a Man From the USA - 50 State Limericks by Joshua Kraushar

There Once Was a Man From the USA - 50 State Limericks by Joshua Kraushar, Illustrations by Victoria Weiss
Outskirts Press
ISBN: 978-1478721079
Published: Oct 22, 2013

I'm not American, so I don`t know all the States of America (not required learning in Quebec schools!) but as a blogger I meet many people from all over the States, and sometimes I wonder where exactly they are on the map. This is what attracted me to Kraushar's limericks.

First of all, what is a limerick? I had to look it up for the exact meaning. Here is how Dictionary.com defines it:

limerick: a kind of humorous verse of five lines, in which the first, second, and fifth lines rhyme with each other, and the third and fourth lines, which are shorter, form a rhymed couplet.

The limericks is this book do follow this format, and I found some of the rhymes clever and cute. After all, it doesn't sound easy to create a limerick. As stated in the book's synopsis, "Many of the limericks have very little connection with the states mentioned, but some are directly related to several of the others. Here's one of the limericks that I liked about the State of Washington:

There once was a man from

Washington State

Who had problems with his blind date

When arriving at nine

Thinking he was on time

She announced he was three hours

late

This book is geared to children and teens, but I would say it's more appropriate for teens. I caught the word "damn" and some of the limericks use humor that is a little too crude for younger kids but more suited to teens.

I thought the illustrations were just okay, a little dark and lifeless. My 10 year-old son didn't like them. Overall, this can be a fun way for teens to memorize their States. The author is a retired high school teacher, and I think he has an idea of how to make geography fun.

Note: This book contains the word "damn" in it and some of the humor may be inappropriate for younger children.

Reviewed by Laura

Disclosure: Thanks to the author and Bostick Communications for sending me this book for review. I was not compensated in any other way, nor told how to rate or review this product.

Every Saturday, Booking Mama hosts a feature called Kid Konnection—a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, visit Booking Mama.

Saturday, February 8, 2014