Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast: And Other Tasty Poems

By Jack Prelutsky and Ruth Chan

Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast is guaranteed to make readers laugh, imagine, write, and dream.

“A quick-witted delight.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Perfectly in pitch.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A well-written, must-have collection of poems.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

A collection from the celebrated inaugural Young People’s Poet Laureate and bestselling poet Jack Prelutsky, featuring more than one hundred original poems!

From a lizard playing a mandolin (although not very well) to the surprised guest of honor (at a birthday party he threw for himself), there’s something for everyone in Jack Prelutsky’s Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast. Illustrator Ruth Chan’s lively and hilarious black-and-white art jumps off the page and illuminates a wide array of poetic forms, from haiku to concrete poems and everything in between.

This collection is full of the wit, humor, and imagination that has made Jack Prelutsky a household name and one of the most beloved poets for children. His poetry books for kids include such favorites as A Pizza the Size of the Sun and The New Kid on the Block.

Includes black-and-white line art on every page, plus an index.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063019157

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.

Book preview

Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast

Hard-boiled bugs for breakfast,

Hard-boiled bugs for lunch,

Hard-boiled bugs at suppertime,

Crunchy! Crunchy! Crunch!

Hard-boiled bugs are tastier

Than spiders, flies, or slugs.

There’s not a doubt about it—

I love those hard-boiled bugs.

If Butterflies Baked Cherry Pies

If butterflies baked cherry pies,

And lemons were not sour,

If baseball bats turned into cats,

And seconds took an hour,

If bumblebees made cottage cheese,

And ice cream was red-hot,

I doubt that I would wonder why

I was confused a lot.

A Giant Easter Bunny

A giant Easter Bunny

Is parading down my street.

Its ears are quite spectacular,

It has stupendous feet.

It has a merry twinkle

In its two enormous eyes.

I never thought a bunny

Could be even half that size.

It’s a prepossessing bunny,

Fully more than ten feet tall.

The clamor would be deafening

If ever it should fall.

I’m glad that Easter Bunny

Has a pair of sturdy legs,

For if it took a tumble

It might scramble all its eggs.

My Lizard

My lizard plays the mandolin,

Although not very well.

My frog drums out of rhythm

On my turtle’s shiny shell.

My turtle tries its best to sing,

But only squawks a lot.

I wish my pets were talented—

Apparently, they’re not.

My Elephant

My elephant is tinted pink

With purple polka dots.

My elephant has taught herself

To tie her trunk in knots.

My elephant turns somersaults

A dozen times a day.

My elephant eats hardly half

A teaspoonful of hay.

My elephant can use her tail

To play the violin.

Her voice is sweet, so when she sings

I always join right in.

My elephant is not a chore

To keep around at all.

My lovely little elephant

Is only one inch tall.

My Clock

I have an odd, contrary clock

That doesn’t really work.

I’ve more or less determined

That it’s basically berserk.

It makes some disconcerting sounds,

As though its parts are loose,

And when it comes to telling time,

My clock is of no use.

Sometimes my clock runs backward,

Sometimes it’s fast . . . or slow,

Sometimes it doesn’t run at all,

I simply never know.

Sometimes it tocks but doesn’t tick,

Or ticks but doesn’t tock.

My clock keeps going cuckoo,

Though it’s not a cuckoo clock.

Today When I Got Out of Bed

Today when I got out of bed

I noticed right away

That I was two feet taller,

And my hair had turned to hay.

My nose looked like a tangerine,

My