LAUGH-ETERIA

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 1999. Laugh-eteria. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0152020845

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Laugh-eteria is filled with humorous poems and drawings by Douglas Florian. Topics range from monsters, “Ogres are Ugly,” to school, “School Schedule,” to poetry, “Read this Poem.” All readers will be able to find poems in this book that relate to them and make them laugh.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Florian is sure to find a following of young readers who find these poems humorous and relatable. Most of the poems in Laugh-eteria use rhyme and rhythm to draw the reader in as well as drawings by Florian to enhance the humor. However, some of the poems, like “A Mermaid” cannot be read without the drawings if they are to make sense. In poems like “School Schedule,” Florian is really able to connect to readers’ emotions by describing the feelings of being in class and then getting to go to lunch: “We woke! We spoke! We ran! We sang!”

The layout of the book is a plus because readers are able to quickly find their favorite poems by either checking the Index of Titles or the Index of First Lines in the back of the book. However, some of the drawings do not look well put together and can distract from, rather than enhance the poems that they represent.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review: "Florian repeatedly shows that he knows what makes kids giggle."
KIRKUS review: "Florian's language and simple, thick-lined cartoons illustrations are equally ingenuous, and he sticks to tried-and-true subjects, from dinosaurs to school lunch, but the well of inspiration seems dry; revisit his hilarious Bing Bang Boing (1994) instead."

5. CONNECTIONS
Have students pick their favorite poems to reread together as a group outloud.

Have students create their own funny poems

Have students create drawings for their favorite poems

Other Poetry books by Douglas Florian:
Florian, Douglas. Bing Bang Boing. ISBN 0152337709
Florian, Douglas. Insectlopedia. ISBN 0152013067
Florian, Douglas. Summersaults. ISBN 0060292679