• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

Winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Honor Award
Winner of the Lion & Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry
An NEA Educator Recommended Book
This is the first longer-format, middle-grade collection from #1New York Times–bestselling author-illustrator Calef Brown. Moving away from the picture book format offers Calef the opportunity to tackle a variety of themes and poetry styles as well as reach a slightly older audience.Hypnotize a Tiger is chock-full of Calef's zany black-and-white artwork and features his wonderfully inventive characters and worlds—from the "completely nonviolent and silent" Lou Gnome to Percival, the impetuous (and none-too-sensible) lad who believes he is invincible, to Hugh Jarm (who has a huge arm, natch!). It's a whimsical world: creative, fun, and inspiring!

Calef Brown's profile page

Calef Brown is an illustrator, character designer, and children's book creator. Books he has written and illustrated includePolkabats and Octopus Slacks,Hallowilloween, andFlamingos on the Roof, which was a #1New York Times bestseller. He has also illustratedAdventures of a Cat-Whiskered Girl,TheYggyssey, andThe Neddiadby Daniel Pinkwater andThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He lives with his family in Rhode Island.

Winner of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Honor Award
Winner of the Lion & Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry
An NEA Educator Recommended Book
“Full of absurdity and off-kilter musings, Brown's collection offers a zingy introduction to the silly side of poetry.” —Publishers Weekly
“Backyard Byzantines, Hipster Hirsutes, Arcane Arcadians, Rare Rondos ... Calef Brown's poems read like a guest list of Who's Who in Kalamazoo. I loved it. He writes poems we want to turn into desserts.” —Jack Gantos, Newbery Award–winning author
“The best books can take you to places you never knew existed.Hypnotize a Tiger will blast you there on a Skyscraper Rocket with imaginary companions, herds of wordplay, and a giant smile. Calef Brown is the surreal deal.” —Kenn Nesbit, U.S. Children's Poet Laureate
“Brown is a superb craftsman, with jazzy rhythms that get your whole body moving and a gift for embedded rhymes” —Sarah Ellis,The Horn Book
“Brown makes great use of wordplay, and the staccato syllables make the poems fun to read aloud. Little ones who enjoy funny verse will be tickled by this title.” —Booklist
“There were certain books that fascinated and excited me as a child. I read them over and over, and they changed my perceptions forever. This is a book like that. It makes a delightful playground of language and concept. Calef Brown is a hero. He is a bulwark against mediocrity. He is my hero too.” —Daniel Pinkwater, author, artist, and radio commentator
“With witty poems combined with his amazing paintings, Calef Brown has made his distinct mark in the history of American culture as a true literary treasure.” —Dan Santat, award-winning author and illustrator
“In your hands you hold a very special book. Get ready to meet a spectacular and hilarious cast of delightfully goofy and whimsical characters that live in each of these delicious poems. Calef Brown has made me feel like a mustached baby tasting sugar for the first time!” —Jorge R. Gutierrez, director of "The Book of Life" and creator (with wife Sandra Equihua) of "El Tigre, The Adventures of Manny Rivera"