Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) Nearly a decade ago, Math Curse (rev. 11/95) introduced a kid whose every thought turned into a mathematical problem. Now things go from ""add"" to ""verse"" as a teacher's comment (""if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything"") causes a boy to ""start hearing everything as a science poem."" Smith's illustrations -- painterly despite the high camp -- feature the bespectacled, bow-tied narrator trailed by apes in a ""dawn of man"" parade (""Glory, glory, evolution. / Darwin found us a solution""), looking aghast at the inside of his body (""I think that I ain't never seen / A poem ugly as a spleen""), and confronting a monster composed, collage-style, of the additives found in a box of breakfast cereal. The vulnerable figure of the Poindexterish boy-poet provides a unifying focus for Smith's witty diversity of styles. Scieszka's clever verses, which pay subversive tribute to poets such as Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, and Robert Frost (""Astronaut Stopping by a Planet on a Snowy Evening""), relate simple scientific concepts about topics such as precipitation, the food chain, and atoms, while demonstrating a neat awareness of how kids think. What grade-schooler won't appreciate ""Dino-sore,"" a poem about a student's boredom over yet another teaching unit on prehistoric creatures? (""Every year the scene repeated. / Third grade, fourth grade, we were greeted / With that torture just completed. / Yes, we've heard of carnivores."") Also included is a CD of Scieszka and Smith reading the verses, comically acknowledging the poets whose work they've lampooned, and reciting a few bonus poems not contained in the book. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In 1995, Mrs. Fibonacci laid a Math Curse; this year, it's Mr. Newton who says, " . . . if you listen closely enough, you can hear the poetry of science in everything." What follows is a madcap collection of science poetry that lampoons familiar songs ("Glory, glory, evolution") and poems ("Once in first grade I was napping"). The whole lacks the zany unity of its predecessor, opting for an impressionistic tour of scientific terms and principles; the illustrations are less integrated into the text as well, if individually often quite inspired (a set of antiqued nursery rhyme panels are just perfect). Some of the poems rise to the level of near genius (" 'Twas fructose, and the vitamins / Did zinc and dye [red #8]"), while others settle for the satisfyingly gross ("Mary had a little worm. / She thought it was a chigger"). If this offering falls short of the standard set by Math Curse, it will nevertheless find an eager audience, who will hope that the results of Mr. Picasso's curse will soon be forthcoming. (Poetry. 8-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
