Poetry Friday: "Sad Underwear and Other Complications," by Judith Viorst

Skimming through this book (Atheneum, 1995) in the library, I was amused by the title, appreciative of  being included ("More Poems for Children and Their Parents"), and sold on the names of some of the verses: "It's a Wonderful World, But They Made a Few Mistakes," "Well, Shut My Mouth," and  "Someday Someone Will Bet That You Can't Name All Fifty States." I laughed in recognition at the lines of "The Seventh Swimming Lesson":

Stop the presses.
Call a reporter.
Sally just put her face in the water.

Some meanness does burble up;  "Wayne" begins, "Nobody's best friends with Wayne./He's a fellow who clogs up life's drain." Skip the poems you don't like, and enjoy the humor in the others. There are more than forty to choose from, including some funny takes on fairy tales. The author, Judith Viorst, also wrote Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

The Poetry Friday roundup is at Biblio File today.

Comments

[Elaine Magliaro]

Susan,

My elementary students really liked the humorous poetry in Viorst's other collection, IF I WERE IN CHARGE OF THE WORLD, too. It's hard to believe it was published so long ago--in 1981. This book also includes some funny takes on fairy tales.

[Karen Edmisten]

Thanks for the smile this morning, Susan. :-)

[Susan T.]

Elaine, I will look for that one; I'm sure our library has it. Thanks for the recommendation!

Karen, you're welcome. The "face in the water" was a swimming-lesson dilemma here, too.