You May Be Silly If....Silly Street by Jeff Foxworthy

Sometimes you're silly.
You know it's true.
When you're felling. that way,
There are things you can do.

You could stand on your head,
And wiggle your toes.
Or just walk around
With a spoon on our nose.

But if you're looking for more
And want something new,
Then I know a cool place,
That's just for you.

And that perfect place for the silly-disposed can be found in Jeff Foxworthy's new collection of silly poems, Silly Street (HarperCollins, 2009). Following up on his NYT best-seller, Dirt on My Shirt, Foxworthy has penned a new collection of kid-pleasing poetry with rhymes about a street populated with silly stores ("Pets-a-Palooza," "Hats and Halos," "Bubble Gum Tree," or perhaps "Phil's Fluffy and Light," where the business plan has a problem:

At Phil's Giant Pancakes,
Business is slow.
They've only sold one
As far as I know.

It was fluffy and light
And the taste! You can't beat it.
But it took 400 people
A whole year to eat it.

And then there's the proprietor whose product demo works just a bit too well:

There used to be a magic store,
Run by a man with a beard.
But he pulled out his wand,
And gave it a wave,
And Poof! the whole store disappeared.

Foxworthy's rhymes are light and easy on the ear, a bit frothy as the title would suggest, and artist Steve Bjorkland's exuberant comic illustrations take the verses to the appropriate super-silly level. Silly Street is tailor-made for easing reluctant poetry readers into the genre when Poetry Month rolls around.