Common Critters

Written by Pat Brisson

Illustrated by Dan Tavis

Publisher: Tilbury Publishing

Summary: Common Critters celebrates neighborhood wildlife in verse. A familiar cast of characters―worms, slugs, caterpillars, ladybugs, robins, mourning doves, houseflies, spiders, squirrels, skunks, and others―crawls, runs, buzzes, and flits through these lively poems, which show how exotic these seemingly ordinary creatures really are.

Dan Tavis’s humorous illustrations crank up the delight, and a child wanting to learn more will find it in the natural-history backmatter. Pat Brisson employs a variety of verse forms in the book, and she shows how it’s done in a back-of-book feature called “A Peek into the Poet’s Toolkit.”  

"The poems are light and fun, while the entertaining illustrations will draw in readers."
― Susan Lissim, Dwight School, NYC, School Library Journal

Educators and parents will appreciate that the poems also provide interesting, easily digestible nuggets of scientific information. Delightful watercolor-and-ink cartoons add uncommon whimsy throughout and feature lush surroundings, shown additionally in lovely opening and closing spreads.”
― Kirkus Reviews

Published: April 7, 2020