Poetry Monday -- Jabberwocky

Jabberwocky, the classic poem from Lewis Carroll's Through the LookingGlass and What Alice Found There -- reimagined and illustrated by Christopher Myers. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007

Another poetry post on Nonfiction Monday -- just because Poetry is in the nonfiction collection.

I always thought I could understand the poem Jabberwocky -- if only I listened hard enough. It almost sounds as if it makes sense. Boy goes off, is warned against a monster. (the Jabberwock) Actually, not just one monster. There's also a Jubjub Bird and the Frumious Bandersnatch! Defeats same and comes home to celebration.
That's a simple enough medieval warrior explaination.

But Chris Myers goes beyond that. He decided that it might be related to ancient hoop games similar to our basketball -- and illustrated it in modern basketball terms.

Wow, he's playing with our head.

The Jabberwock is now a huge basketball player with 14 fingers on his huge hands (the claws that clutch) which the local boy must face and defeat on a city basketball court.

"Calllooh! Callay!" (Hoorah, Hooray!)
He does!

See -- the poem almost makes sense.
-wendieO

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