Once Upon A Tomb
Gravely Humorous Verses
By J. Patrick Lewis; Simon Bartram (Illustrator)
(Candlewick, Hardcover, 9780763618377, 32pp.)
Publication Date: July 11, 2006
Categories: General
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Clever puns and elaborately detailed, surreal artwork illuminate a collection of comically grim verses that can't help but tickle the funny bone.
Reader, if I had more time
I'd say au revoir in rhyme,
Sayonara, ciao in verse —
But I have to catch a hearse.
Peek inside ONCE UPON A TOMB and find twenty-two poems, each of
which tells, in hilarious verse, the story of an untimely demise — from a school principal to a bully, a food critic to a cafeteria lady, an underwear
salesman to a soccer player. Complemented by Simon Bartram's deadpan illustrations, J. Patrick Lewis's cryptic tour of headstones and epitaphs is silly, spooky — and far from grave.
J. PATRICK LEWIS has written many books for children, including THE LAST RESORT, illustrated by Roberto Innocenti, which was a NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year, and ARITHME-TICKLE: AN EVEN NUMBER OF ODD RIDDLE-RHYMES, illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. Of ONCE UPON A TOMB, he says, "The dead can be very funny. Some of their best one-liners are written in stone."
SIMON BARTRAM's humorous acrylic paintings have appeared in several books for children, including MAN ON THE MOON
(A DAY IN THE LIFE OF BOB), and numerous magazines. He painted the pictures for ONCE UPON A TOMB over many months on an easel in a small studio in the north of England. He loves to paint but also enjoys writing and creating his own stories and poems.
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