Ladybug Nominee Profile

New Hampshire author David Elliott has created a collection poems about wild animals which have been beautifully illustrated with woodcuts by Holly Meade. Elliott's verses are clear and straitforward, nothing to confuse his readers, but they contain references to larger issues (extinction, evolution, even a nod to William Blake) that add depth to the collection.

The Panda

You're a bamboo bandit;

you're a piebald dream.

You're a bear in silk pajamas;

you're cookies and cream.

You're the wizard of the mountains;

you're pres-ti-di-gi-ta-tion!

You're nature's best example

of bear imagination.

Reproduced here with permission of the poet.

This is one of the ten titles nominated for the 2011 Ladybug Picture Book Award.