Prelutsky, Jack. Illustrated by Meilo So. 1997. The beauty of the beast: poems from the animal kingdom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Prelutsky’s collection of poems about the animal kingdom includes 200 poems by 123 poets—Conrad Aiken to Charlotte Zolotow, most well-known in the world of children’s literature. From Margaret Wise Borwn’s “Bumble Bee” to Jane Yolen’s “Calligraphy”, the anthology is a collection to treasure for years to come. The poems are arranged by zoological classification—“In Trillions We Thrive”, “Jubilant, We Swim”, “Dragons in Miniature”, “Hollow-Boned Singers”, and “Wrapped in Coats of Fur”, and the inclusion of indices by both title and author making finding favorites straightforward and almost effortless. Each spread contains multiple poems, which is almost overwhelming for readers. The arrangement encourages readers to read only the selections that appeal at a particular sitting, and yet calls readers back again and again to visit the world of animals. From endpaper to endpaper, the watercolor illustrations by Meilo So provide movement and action on each spread. So’s clever use of color and texture shows a menagerie of animals and presents each with a different mood. This collaboration by Prelutsky and So has created an anthology that is perfect for school libraries, home collections, and all collections in between.