He often sings and plays guitar on most of them. He has also set his poems to music on the audio versions of his anthologies. He has also compiled numerous children's anthologies comprising poems of others. Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor.

Prelutsky has written more than 50 poetry collections, including Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep (1976), It's Halloween (1977), The Mean Old Mean Hyena (1978), and Something BIG Has Been Here (1990). Hirshman told him he was a natural poet, published his book, and remained his editor until she retired 37 years later. He was 24 at the time, and the poems appeared in his first book, A Gopher in the Garden and Other Animal Poems. He met with Susan Hirshman, and was amazed when they wanted his work not the drawings that took six months to draw, but the poems which took two hours. He wrote poems to go with the drawings last minute. Prelutsky also loved to draw imaginary animals, and a friend of his encouraged him to send it to a publisher in New York.

In the late 1960's, he was working in a bookstore in Greenwich Village and singing in coffeehouses, and while doing the latter he met Bob Dylan, became friends, and Dylan even stated that Prelutsky sounded 'like a cross between Woody Guthrie and Enrico Caruso'. He studied philosophy, psychology, and flunked English three times before dropping out.īefore becoming a writer, he worked odd jobs including driving a cab, moving furniture, busboy, potter, woodworker, and door-to-door salesman. He graduated in 1958, and went on to Hunter College for two years. While there, he was happy and was able to train his beautiful singing voice and even took part in the musicals. She would pick a boring poem from a boring book and read it in a boring voice, looking bored while she was doing it.'Īfter teachers discovered he had musical talents, they suggest he attend The High School of Music & Art. The syllabus told her she had to recite a poem once a week. She was determined to inflict her views on her captives. He stated that 'sometime in elementary school I had a teacher who, in retrospect, did not like poetry herself. Prelutsky claims to have hated poetry when he was younger. He attended local public schools in the Bronx, hated the experience, and was bored in class. He was poor growing up, and he said he was '.a sensitive kid in a working class neighborhood.

While he was still a baby, a fire burned his family's apartment and he was saved by his Uncle Charlie, who was a stand up comic who played the Borscht Belt. Jack Prelutsky was born on Septemin Brooklyn, New York to Charles, an electrician, and Dorothea, a homemaker. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Carolynn. Jack Prelutsky is an American writer of children's poetry.

Nightmares by Jack Prelutsky