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above: one of the endpapers color variations for Stampede!
Stampede! -poems for the Wild Side of School -written by Laura Purdie Salas & illustrated by Steven Salerno published by Clarion Books 2009
The tribulations of being a kid in school, charmingly told in 18 poems… through metaphor and simile humorously connecting animals and children.
“Salas captures 18 of them in very short, first-person rhymes, and like fugitives from The Island of Dr. Moreau, the children in Salerno’s supple, loosely drawn cartoon illustrations sport an array of evocative animal ears, tails, patterned clothes, and altered facial features. The wild verses are positively shot through with simile and metaphor, and young readers will run just as rampant, flocking to these pitch-perfect portrayals of their peers and selves” -Booklist
“A large, riotous picture book collection...with spot-on emotional truths...It's a satisfying whole worth reading and rereading aloud and LOUD” -Poetry for Children
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above: one of the preliminary cover sketch variations for Stampede! -poems about the Wild Side of School
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above: a cropped view of a spread illustration depicting the first day of school when the kids are like mice lost in a big maze of hallways and rooms…
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above: a detail view of a spread illustration depicting the first day of school when the kids are like mice lost in a big maze of hallways and rooms…
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above: one of the early preliminary sketches in crayon, depicting the school children morphing into various animals… a lion, a bird. an elephant, a monkey, a bear, a snake, and a pig.
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above: detail view of an illustration -of a school child so shy, that he/she is like a fox hiding in its cozy den away from prying eyes…
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above: this illustration depicts a child deemed so prickly and sharp by all the other children that they liken her to a porcupine, and so always give her a very wide berth!
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above: just before lunchtime… and like a starving bear in springtime craving for food.