Customer Reviews:

• "Andrea has provided a very amusing look at life, and love, and natural things. Whether it is pulling off the ears of chocolate bunnies, or trees bemoaning their fate, or Andrea her own body image or Diet-Rich, which joined together makes her surname. She has shown that life can also be funny as well as serious, and I highly recommend a very excellent book, infact it would be a CAT- ASTROPHE not to buy this chapbook and start laughing, INFACT HAVE A CHESHIRE CHUCKLE ON ME." - Yvonne Sparkes

• "Such hilarious cats! You'll burst out laughing when you see them. The poems will bring chuckles, too. Andrea has touched on many subjects using many poetry forms, even limericks.The lyrical lines in some of her poems can be sung to well-known tunes (she tells you which ones). A fun book!" - Emily Romano

• "Andrea creates the most wonderful mind provoking humor with her talent of taking a simple word and with a twist gives it the magical touch that will make you laugh. Thanks to her friend that drew the cat on the cover which allows everyone to view the humor from the start and with the poems to the end of the chapbook. Andrea's best fan and sister." - Jennifer Walker

• "Andrea Dietrich is a fantastic writer and her books never cease to surprise me. Cheshire Chuckles combines humor and style with wonderful results. Reading this book was fun and I recommend it to everyone, even those that are not very fond of poetry. This book will change that for sure." - L. Urquiza

• "Get ready to roll in the aisles....a lot of giggling is coming your way as you open the bright yellow cover of Cheshire Chuckles, featuring a very silly striped Cheshire cat. Inside is another even funnier cat, splitting its sides with laughter, and that’s when you can’t help but to join in! Lis Urquizza has done a wonderful job with both these fanciful illustrations, and what better way to lead into an entire chapbook of humorous poetry written by one of our own very favorite poets, Andrea Dietrich! I will touch on just a few of my favorite humorous poems here for you.

“The Blasted Tree” personifies everyone and everything entering, shall we say, the ‘twilight years’ of life. Who among us mature souls cannot equate with the following excerpt:

                    Blast it! I’m blasted.
                    I feel it in my roots.
          I feel it in these withered limbs
          That used to be young shoots!

And, how about our ‘lazy days’ – which, more and more, seem to be a natural state of mind? In “Admissions of a Sloth” we read this passage:

          Labor of the brain is fine. I do it all the time.
          How I love to sit and read or think of words that rhyme.

What else can curse us along life’s path? Here are some of my favorite “Andrea words of wisdom” taken from “The Bucket In the Sky,” which also appears on the back cover:

          Oh, take me to the bucket in the sky,
          where smells of fast food cooking tantalize-
          a poultry paradise where no birds fly,
          but come instead with biscuits, slaw, or fries...

And, while we’re on the topic of food, here’s a funny excerpt from “The Real Food Song”:

          Potato chip, I love you up,
          my darling little buttercup.
          A cup! A Reese’s chocolate one
          with peanut butter. Oh, what fun!

And here’s yet another little yummy tidbit, from “Choco-Mama Mania”:

          Give it to me Swiss or straight from France.
          Hurry while I loosen up my pants!
          I’ll make do with anything you have.
          Drizzled over ice cream nice and smoothie,
          chocolate is the universal salve.

Now that most of us health oriented folks are “Waist Watchers” (cute play on words for that famous diet plan, Andrea), here’s a few tantalizing thoughts on wardrobe:

          The “Zanadi,” flare-legged, and faded blue
          I grab with very little hesitation.
          From Asia, straight to Wal-Mart, (and it’s true),
          they always fit (Oh, joy, less complication).

Remember how we all got hooked on fitness? Here’s a reminder, from “Role Model”:

          I saw here as a child and was hooked.
          What symbol of perfection for the young!
          The things she had and did and how she looked-
          A high ideal to which for years I’d clung.

The need for a good night’s ‘beauty’ rest is addressed In “Pillow Talk,” where we read:

          Just press those lips together tight and zip!
          My lids are getting heavy as you talk.
          So now I offer you this little tip.
          Why don’t you go outside and take a walk?

And, from “This Must Be Another’s Dream,” we find some more profound words of wisdom:

          When Richard Simmons trudges in,
          I know I’ve got to gripe,
          “This must be another’s dream.
          That woman’s not my type!”

By all means, do yourself a huge favor and pick up a copy of Cheshire Chuckles to lighten up from the daily grind. I want to also mention the interior art by Jennifer Walker and Akihiro Hosoya, which is also a delight throughout the chapbook. You will find you are renewed and refreshed, and laugh yourself silly with this witty and lyrical masterpiece." - Jan Turner, coauthor of Faery Folk & Fireflies

• "As the clever title and delightful cover art of a chuckling Cheshire indicates, Andrea Dietrich’s chapbook will leave you smiling, grinning, even laughing. Her children’s illustrations give a perfect touch to the collection of humorous poems covering a wide range of subject matter. A compellation of varied poetry forms such as short quatrains about dandelions and their propagations, to longer ones of nine, as seen in “Good Morning…NOT” where luxuriating in bed is far more acceptable than dragging oneself from the comfort of warm blankets and dreams to great a ‘Good Morning Day’ with the sun, chirping birds and greetings from friends. Any child would enjoy the animal humor in “Ballad of Bad Dog” (Sung to the tune of “Teen Angel”) and “Irreplaceable Love” of a teddy bear. The “Ballad of Charlie and Mollie” (Parody of Frankie and Johnny) have delightful singsong qualities, fun to red and sing. One of my favorite of Andrea’s well-written sonnets is “The Smells of Love” which takes you from the aroma of a potent French perfume to the love that might mostly turn you green: ‘I’m crazy for the smell of gasoline.’ Two Acrostics designed to jiggle the sweet tooth in a child are “Chocolate Rabbit” and “Jelly Beans.” My favorite of the sugar-sweet poems is “Choco-Mamma Mania” which makes me start digging for that Snickers bar which I had away last June. Of the collection of Limericks, this one is my favorite:

        One day with her pet lizard, on a
        warm beach lay the sex goddess, Shawna.
        One who ogled her bust
        tried to say he was just
        enthralled by her lovely iguana

Andrea’s Trilogy of Thanksgiving Sonnets, Christmas poems and Parodies sung to favorite tunes delights every age. My favorite of her many Sonnets is “Escaping the Vines” where in a dream, entangled in the vines, the trapped, wreathing dreamer finds his way out by changing his dream into a child’s fond wish; turns into a mouse and sets forth nibbling strands of cherry licorice. “How Wounded Thunder Earned His Name” and “Seven Brothers” bring delightful American humor into play. For us night owls, one can easily relate to “Funny Owls” as we check out our drooping eyelids in the morning mirror. Many of us can relate to “The Admissions of a Sloth” when it comes to housekeeping or to “That Potent Urge” when you ‘Gotta Go, Gotta Right Now.” My advice to all poetry lovers is to cuddle up in a cozy corner with Andrea’s Cheshire Cat. There, you will find sheer enjoyment and many “Cheshire Chuckles.”" - Mary L. Ports, author of Kaleidoscope