Animals Anonymous

I have to say when I first approached this book I didn't know what to expect. The cover looked interesting, so I clicked on it and now I have it and have to review it. Actually, I've had the book for three weeks or so. I opened the box right away, glanced at the book, groaned. A hand writing font, hasn't this guy every heard of the printed word? There's a reason they invented the printing press, not only did it make it easy to churn out books, but it made them more legible as well. Yes, I wasn't going to read this one. But then one day I picked it up, opened to the middle and read the "Doggerel" poem and I smiled, then I laughed, then I looked, really looked at the illustration on the opposite page by Scott Fisher and if I'd had a mirror, I'm sure I'd've seen myself grinning ear to ear. Okay, so he got to my funny bone with "Doggerel", could he do it again? Again I picked a page at random and wound up reading "Bad News Gnus" and that smile stayed with me. Next I went to "Lamb on the Lam" still smiling and now into the handwriting font and really into Mr. Fisher's illustrations. I've done the whole book now, read through all the animals, enjoyed them all. If you take a chance on this book, you will too, I just know you will. Reviewed by Vesta Irene

This book is designed to look like a junior high schooler's notebook with the poems being done in a hand printing font and the drawings looking like they were done by a junior high school student, albeit a very talented on. I don't have any children, but I have a couple nephews, one in the seventh and the other in the eighth grade and they both got a lot of laughs out of this book. It seems the poems are all very topical and meaningful if you're in junior high school. I've read this book and all the poems in it, so when my nephews spent last weekend with me (the do that a lot) and they wanted to sit right down and turn on the boob tube, I read this, from this book: Sitcoms, talk shows, and cartoons- I watch mornings, afternoons. I watch so much Dad say soon he thinks I'll be completely Looney The poems ends with: Dad picked up my remote and ... CLICK. And that's just what I did. This is a nice book which deals with the subject matter that affects kids today and maybe even a few big people too.

I'm going to be frank with you: At first I thought this was going to be a cutesy picture book for "young readers" (you know, the "Amelia Bedelia", "Frog and Toad", and even "Goosebumps" and "Animorphs" reading crowd). However, after reading through this book, I will have to agree with many of the other reviewers: this is NOT a book for kids. Written in rhyming verse, this is a book about teenage animals with attitude who are attending "Animal Anonymous" and talking to a shrink about their problems. One of the animals keeps a notebook about their secrets,and that's how this book was born. It's great how the notebook is written like a junior high or high school teenager's notebook, complete with doodles, drink rings and graffiti. The illustrations are as much fun as the poems, very clever and punk, and done only in pen colors, so it looks like a sketch in some kid''s notebook. Some of the poems read like a rap song, others like a note being passed or a journal entry. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger then about 13 or 14, as the book deals with such teenage issues such as peer pressure, loneliness, trying to fit in, even "being a virgin". Some of the poems are just plain gross, (like the cute little easter bunny who..um, picks her nose) others are clever and creative (like the "zen" zebra who sits and ponders what color he is under a bonsai tree). Want a taste of some of the poems? "The Zen Zebra" "I ponder one question all day and all night. Whether I'm black or whether I'm white." Part of another poem, "Bee Biology" .."I tell each[boy] he'szz my soul mate. Come on boyszz!!! Let's pollinate. (I'm no bee slut. It's just genetic.)" part of "CATastrophe Cat" .." I pee in the pool. I spit in the breeze. I say what I think, and do what I please." All of them were fun to read and look at the sketches, and I couldn't put the book down until I had it read cover to cover. While it's not a book I would read aloud to a grade-schooler, I think it would be fun for a junior high or high schooler to read it and identify with the animal's problems.

For anybody who has children, works with children or was a child, this book is a valuable, off beat look into the perceptions, insecurities, dreams and behaviors of adolescents. I would agree with other reviewers that the target audience is a bit unclear although I am wondering if we give too many kids too little credit for cutting through to the truth. It definitely is not for young children but my sense is that most teens (even if they do not admit it) will find themselves and their friends on most of the pages. The eccentric poems and illustrations offer readers the chance to look at their own value and identity issues through the eyes and lives of a funky but generally wise critter. This is also a great book for adults willing to take a playful but serious inventory of their own interactions with the world. This would be an excellent book for classroom or adult-teen conversation.

This book is just wonderful. My kids love it and I do too, even though some words are not for the PG-13 crowd. (The book was originally designated for 14 and up.) The entire book is presented like a teenager notebook style with lots of drawings, scribbles and notes and poems. It draws out the creativity in everyone who reads it. This is the first book I got by Rich Michelson. I think the illustrator Scott Fischer made this book alive. It used simple colors (colors by your ballpoint pens) so at first glance it looks exactly like a teenager's notebook. It's a great book to read anytime; coffee table, breakfast, hanging out with friends, etc. The illustrations are very detailed and very lively. While the readers will inevitably be drawn to the tons of illustrations in this book, the poems are imaginative and educational at the same time. The author uses lots of animals and creatures as the basis for his poems and the illustrations nicely supports the poems. All in all I give it a high 5 stars. It is a very cute kids book. Very creative, very nicely printed with hardcover, full of "wow's" and "look at this!" surprises. Excellent overall execution and content. Buy it if you have a teenager in you; or in your house....