When Severinos children were quite young, he loved to read them bedtime stories, the most favorite series was that of Dr. Seuss. From Green Eggs and Ham to If I Ran the Circus, the stories were indelibly etched in both fathers and childs heart and mind. Besides the incredible story lines and characters, Seuss use of the poetic meter, anapestic tetrameter, resonated with so many. Writing into the wee hours one evening, and inspired by such a uniquely gifted and creative author, Severino conceived of SLAMINA, a fantasy world of animals and critters, engaging in all sorts of fun and mischief, written in the meter of Seuss. For those that missed it, SLAMINA is animals spelled backward, and carrying this theme through, all the characters in SLAMINA carry emordnilap or backwards names, such as SURLAW, the walrus, and ALLIROG, the gorilla. And besides the names, even behaviors and elements are generally backwards, such as fish do fly, birds do swim, waterfalls actually rise, the grasses are blue and the skies are red. For the enjoyment of all ages, thread through the chapters are contemporary references, such as Jimi Hendrix, iPhones, and Google. Lastly, besides bringing a lyrical smile to the readers face, there are occasional subtle messages of learning and values, just to keep the mind engaged. So, welcome to a world where to is fro, and up is down, and every square is perfectly round.
