My Dog May Be a Genius

Written by Jack Prelutsky

Narrated by Jack Prelutsky

Have you ever encountered an underwater marching band, a pig in a bathing suit, a pet orangutan, or a witch in a hardware store? Have you ever sat with a skunk in a courtroom, shopped for a dinosaur, or conversed with a Bupple, a Wosstrus, a Violinnet, or a Celloon? You will have, once you've read this exuberant collaboration from Jack Prelutsky and his "partner in crime" James Stevenson.

The "reigning czars of silliness" have once again teamed up to bring readers an irresistible collection of poems that will have tongues twisting, imaginations soaring, and sides aching with laughter. The result is genius, indeed.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 26, 2008
• ISBN: 9780061629594

Jack Prelutsky

Jack Prelutsky is the best-selling author of more than fifty books of poetry, including The New Kid on the Block, illustrated by James Stevenson, and Stardines Swim High Across the Sky, illustrated by Carin Berger. Jack Prelutsky lives in Washington State.

Reviews for My Dog May Be a Genius

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A cute poetry collection for kids--Shel Silverstein lite. Lots of puns, punchlines and nonsense. My seven-year-old thought it was pretty funny and had me read it every night until we were done.Read aloud in 2015.

[scote23 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

MSBA nominee 2009-2010.

Even if I wasn't dealing with doggie depression right now, I would probably still be kind of "eh" on this book. Normally I like poetry, but I just wasn't took taken with Prelutsky's. I wonder if I would still like Shel Silverstein as much now.

[rnelson12-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is book is a great collection of inspiring poetry. Students will love the quirky telling and poetic prose.

[maybedog · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh. Lauded as the "first children's poet laureate" James Stevenson should be a fantastic poet but these poems are blah blah blah. They all follow the standard rhyming scheme of the second line rhymes with the fourth or first and second rhyme and third and fourth rhyme. Shel Silverstein wrote funny children's poems that varied in rhyme or didn't rhyme at all, introducing children to a wider variety of poetry styles.

The poems aren't very funny, at least the ones I read, and they used words far beyond the reading level the poems are geared to (ostensibly?)

The illustrations are cute, though.

[wprice_46 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Summary: This book is filled with poems concerning funny things about everyday life experiences. One poem called "The Leaves Are Turning Colors" is about how the leaves change color in the fall and then fall off of the tree, but in this poem the leaves fall off in the summer to add humor.Reaction: I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did some of the others but a few poems stuck out such as the one about the leaves.Extension 1: I could have them pick their favorite poems and make posters to hang around the room.Extension 2: I could read poetry out loud to the class and set up poems around the room.

[lorinhigashi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jack Prelutsky created imaginative and fun poems to capture the essence of children's creative way of thinking. He expresses the make believe elements in a child's mind, "What Do I Do With A Gremlin?" to the simplicity of a child's thinking, "I'm Glad I'm Me, I'm Glad I'm Me." These poems range in length - some with just a few lines, all having a rhyming element. Some are arranged to follow the imagination of what the words mean - "I'm On a Bumpy Road" is arranged as a single bumpy line and "I'm Falling Through a Funnel" has the words in a shape of a funnel. Some poems show Prelutsky's creative word play, as "I'm Climbing Up a Ladder" poem begins from the bottom of the page and ends at the top. The illustrations are just as carefree as the poems they accompany. For all ages to enjoy.

[jenrobyoung · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

 This is a wonderfully illustrated book of Poetry. Jack Prelutsky has many fun relatable poems that would be fun for children or adults to read. This is an award winning poetry book receiving an award from the Poetry Foundation.

[rmbowers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was a great poetry book for children! These are poems they can really understand and enjoy. They are also filled with alliteration and rhyme!

[abbylibrarian_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This audio recording of selected poems from Prelutsky's newest book is fun and silly. Each poem is set to music using a variety of musical instruments including guitar, mandolin, banjo, oboe, and harmonica. Although some of the songs sound really similar, it's a great way to enjoy poetry and the silly words make this recording a lot of fun. Recommended for car trips with preschoolers or young elementary kids.

[ericarhenry · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was my favorite poetry book of the term. I grew up loving Shel Silverstein, but he was really the only poet I ever read for fun. This book reminds me a ton of his books. I love nonsense poetry and this book is filled with it. I really think that nonsense poetry is a great way to get kids exposure to poetry. I don't feel like I was a minority growing up without liking any poetry other than Silverstein. But I think the nonsense poetry gave me a great start because I was pretty much forced to read more poetry in middle and high school. By having exposure to the fun nonsense kind, I feel like I got a better understanding of hte more difficult kind. I will definitely have this book in my classroom. It's a lot of fun to read, you can pick it up and just read a little of it, and I think its great for kids' imaginations.

[angelaprice · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This anthology of poetry, perfectly illustrated by James Stevenson, is filled with kid-friendly poems that will make adults and children alike laugh out loud. Many of the poems personify animals in the funniest of ways, and there are several cleverly done concrete poems that will attract a child’s interest. The poems are at times lyrical and have a rhythm that begs them to be read out loud.I spent a Sunday afternoon reading this book of poetry with my two children, and there were times when they both begged me to read one of the lines again and again. This book is a fun way to introduce children to poetry.I would use this anthology to introduce my classroom to the humorous and lighthearted possibilities of poetry. The poem “Homework, Sweet Homework” would be a great one to recite just before handing out an assignment that some might whine about having to take home. It would also be fun to show students the concrete poem examples, such as “I’m Falling through a Funnel,” and have them brainstorm other ideas for poetry of this type.