Every Day's a Holiday: Amusing Rhymes for Happy Times [Library Binding]

Dean Koontz (Author), Phil Parks (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 23, 2003 | Age Level: 8 and up

In Every Day's a Holiday, the ever inventive Dean Koontz ponders the origin of Valentine's Day; introduces Jinx, a guy who really gets into Halloween; and explains that extra "a" on the end of Kwanzaa. There are also holidays you may not have heard of -- but that you are sure to be celebrating soon -- including Praise-the-Chicken Day, Lost-Tooth Day, and Up-Is-Down Day.

With over 250 million copies of his books sold, Dean Koontz is considered one of the world's premiere suspense writers. Now he is conquering a whole new field with his flagrantly funny poetry. As he did in two previous books for children, The Paper Doorway and Santa's Twin, the New York Times best-selling author has created original verse that combines fun, fantasy, and just a dollop of the macabre. The resulting laugh-fest is truly cause for celebration.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Koontz offers up a collection of 64 poems about holidays, some well known (Halloween) and others less familiar to American audiences (Sakura Matsuki). He includes significant days (the first day of autumn, Mother's Day, and the shortest day of the year); and birthdays (Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln); along with lots of special days of his own creation (Gravity Day, Lost Tooth Day, and Up-Is-Down Day). While many of the poems have clever themes, the rhyming couplets are often unimaginative and occasionally awkward. Each selection is accompanied by at least one black-and-white illustration that is sometimes charming, sometimes creepy, but always interesting. However, for poetry collections to take you throughout the year, Myra Cohn Livingston's Celebrations (Holiday, 1985), Jack Prelutsky's Dog Days: Rhymes around the Year (Knopf, 1999), and Bill Martin, Jr.'s The Turning of the Year (Harcourt, 1998) are more satisfying choices.
Laura Reed, Kitchener Public Library, Ontario, Canada
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dean Koontz was born in Everett, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Bedford. When he was a senior in college, he won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. Today he is a world-famous author whose novels have sold 225 million copies in thirty-eight languages. He has numerous New York Times adult best-sellers, including his most recent From The Corner Of His Eye. Dean Koontz is also the author of the children's book Santa's Twin. He lives in southern California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (September 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060085851
• ISBN-13: 978-0060085858
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,872,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University). When I was a senior in college, I won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and have been writing ever since. My first job after graduation was with the Appalachian Poverty Program, where I was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. During my first day on the job, I discovered that the previous occupier of my position had been beaten up by the very kids he had been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and I was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. I wrote nights and weekends, which I continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside Harrisburg. After a year and a half in that position, my wife, Gerda, made me an offer I couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of my writing career. Gerda and I, along with our dog, Trixie, live in southern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very amusing, October 14, 2003

By 

Andrea M. Perry (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Every Day's a Holiday: Amusing Rhymes for Happy Times (Hardcover)

The only amusing thing about this collection is that Dean Koontz fancies himself a children's author. The premise is a clever idea gone horribly wrong. Much of the rhyme is unoriginal or forced and some of it goes on and on and on so that we feel we are stuck in one of the author's horror novels. Stick to what you do best Mr. Koontz and leave quality children's writing to quality children's authors, please!