Twosomes - Marilyn Singer [0]
Title Page
Copyright
First Page
About the Author and Illustrator
To Debbie and Jerry, a great twosome.
And thanks to Steve Aronson; Kristine O’Connell George; my editor, Janet Schulman, and the other good folks at Random House; and, especially, Pat Lewis, for his inspiration.
—M.S.
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Text copyright © 2011 by Marilyn Singer
Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Lee Wildish
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Singer, Marilyn.
Twosomes : love poems from the animal kingdom / by Marilyn Singer; illustrations by Lee Wildish.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-375-98602-4 — ISBN 978-0-375-86710-1 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-375-96710-8 (lib. bdg.)
1. Animals—Juvenile poetry. 2. Love—Juvenile poetry. 3. Children’s poetry, American.
I. Wildish, Lee. II. Title.
v3.1
Good morning! How the nighttime flew!
Now, may I hang around with you?
Nice to meetcha! You smell delish!
Wanna share my water dish?
A sunny day. It’s perfect weather
to go outside—and nap together.
Nose to nose, hip to hip,
ours is a stable relationship.
It’s a-corny thing, but also true—
I like how you scamper. I’m nuts about you!
Hugging you takes some practice.
So I’ll start out with a cactus.
You and I could be a team,
if we agree on color scheme.
You dazzle me in bright sunlight—
and that’s the truth in black and white.
I like your tusks, I like your trunk.
I like your size—you’re quite a hunk.
Mentally, we’re an ideal match!
Dentally, you’re my perfect catch!
Come leap with me and be my wife.
You’re the porpoise of my life.
We’re perfect together. I guarantee
that I dig you and you dig me.
I’m finding a leaf. You’re taking a bite.
Wait a few weeks and our hearts will take flight.
I have a hunch. I think you’re ready.
Honk once for yes if you’ll go steady.
We’ll spend the day wooing, dodging the cars.
We’ll spend the night cooing, under the stars.
Marilyn Singer is the author of many acclaimed children’s books, including Mirror, Mirror and Creature Carnival, and is the co-host of the American Library Association’s annual Poetry Blast. She divides her time between Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, Connecticut, with her husband, their poodle, their cat, a rescued starling, and two doves. You can visit her on the Web at marilynsinger.net.
Lee Wildish grew up in Nottingham, England, where his family had many pets, including cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, fish, mice, and even a few stick insects. Today he lives in Lancashire and works as an illustrator. His most recent children’s book was Thomas and the Dragon Queen by Shutta Crum. You can visit him on the Web at wildishillustration.com.
Alfred A. Knopf
New York