Poetry Friday: Anything But Hank
Anything But Hank by Rachel Lebowitz and Zachariah Wells, illustrated by Eric Orchard (Biblioasis 2008) is the story of a child in search of a name. Told in quatrains of rhyming verse with an abab rhyme scheme, the story unfolds over five ‘books’ as it were, titled Book the First, Book the Second, etc. A mother and father of an infant cannot agree on a name which makes the baby cranky and unruly (you would be, too, if you were “known by ‘it’ and ‘thing’ ) until at last a pig appears with a possible solution. He will take the child to a naming wizard’s lizard.
The rhymes in this book are entirely playful – is it any surprise, for example, that the wizard has a lizard? Or that the full moon over the hedge is named Reg? The illustrations by Eric Orchard are rich and lush with particularly expressive renditions of the pig and the little red-outfitted nameless infant. The title, Anything But Hank, of course, refers to the name of Hank which the child is NOT to be named, but finding out what the child’s name will be is what keeps you reading. I won’t tell you what that name is, but will give you a hint: it rhymes with ‘fridge.’
This week’s Poetry Friday host is Amy at the Art of Irreverence.
June 25th, 2010 at 11:56 am
It sounds delightfully intriguing! I hope I can find a copy here.
June 26th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Thanks for the enthusiastic response to our book! Aline, if you have trouble finding it, I’d be glad to ship you a copy signed by both authors (although not, unfortunately, by the illustrator, who moved away a few months ago). You can contact me at zachwells at gmail dot com if you’d like to make payment and shipping arrangements. Cheers!
June 27th, 2010 at 7:23 am
Zach, thanks for the quick response. I had to interlibrary loan the book here in Winnipeg, myself. Do keep us posted on any new childrens’ books you and Rachel might produce in the future.
June 27th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Will do, Sally. I think Aqua Books might have some copies on hand in Winnipeg.