Photo by Marty Caivano

Gerda Rovetch, of Boulder, wrote a book in collaboration with her daughter Lissa titled "There Was a Man Who Loved a Rat and Other Vile Little Poems." The two will read from the book on April Fool's Day at the Boulder Book Store.

“There was a man who loved a rat. He fed it ham till it got fat. He kept it in his bed at night, and rather hoped it wouldn’t bite.”

This odd little verse and 13 others like it make up "There Was a Man Who Loved a Rat and Other Vile Little Poems," a collaboration between 50-year Boulder resident Gerda Rovetch,83, and her daughter Lissa Rovetch, 46. The two sign copies of their work Tuesday at the Boulder Book Store.

The absurdly funny book, which is appropriate for ages 9 to 90, consists of silly rhymes written by Gerda and illustrated with cartoon-like scrawls by Lissa.

"Vile Little Poems" has been compared to the rhymes of Shel Silverstein and the dark, offbeat humor of writer and artist Edward Gorey.

Gerda and Lissa deliberately choose April Fool's Day to share their book with the Boulder community. Gerda will read her words and Lissa is planning to do impromptu drawings on paper plates for the audience. There will also be a selection of "vile little treats."

"I would say (the book) appeals to the quirky, ludicrous side for both children and adults," says Lissa, who has written and/or illustrated more than 20 children's books working freelance out of San Francisco.

Lissa illustrated the book as comical doodles on the front of paper plates that play out the nonsensical words printed on the adjacent page. Gerda says she has always pictured her daughter's art with her words.

"Children of all ages love the rhythm of rhymes, poems and verse. They make a lot of people laugh and I love making people laugh," says Gerda, who creates rhymes for her own amusement and was surprised that Lissa found an interested publisher at the Highlights Foundation annual writers conference in Chautauqua County, New York.

Philomel Books, a division of the Penguin Group in New York, accepted the book idea that was sent in as a stack of paper plates with Gerda's poems attached on little pieces of paper.

"(The publisher) had never ever received a book proposal

on paper plates. That's just part of the humor," Lissa says. "My mom and I both appreciate things that are sort of ludicrous and that kind of take you aback and make you laugh just because they are different."

The book consists of 14 verses printed in circular frames on a backdrop of solid bright colors. The pen-and-ink figures are accented with a single splash of color to highlight the quirkiness of the characters. The round design is reminiscent of the paper plates that were copied for the book. Lissa uses the plates for stream-of-consciousness doodles that can be reused if they don't turn out right. She teaches creativity workshops for kids where they draw on paper plates to learn that art doesn't need to be perfect.

Gerda's silly poems naturally pop into her head, which she attributes to her strange sense of humor and ability to see the funny in everything. She loves to share her playful thoughts with everyone. Gerda originally wanted to be a serious poet, like Rainer Maria Rilke, one of her favorite lyrical poets of German literature.

"My thinking is most like his, because he brings absurdity into things that gives you a jolt of the unexpected," Gerda says.

When Gerda was 14, her Jewish family had to flee from East Germany to Switzerland a year before the war broke out. Gerda grew up in London during the Blitz, where she spent a lot of time in bomb shelters. For three years she drafted blueprints for World War II defense weapons as an art student in London.

"A terribly important thing that I learned from the Blitz was that there are a lot of sirens in your life, but you have to treasure the all-clear," Gerda says. "There were a lot of awful things, but somehow you try to abstract what could possibly be funny."

After the war, Gerda became a passionate potter in Oxford. She is well known for her collages, watercolor landscapes, pastel town prints and photography. She won a National Merit Award for one of her photos. Her work has been featured at Boulder's Mustard Seed art gallery, which closed its doors in the late '90s, and at the Boulder Public Library.

Lissa, who has a similar passion for the arts, graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris. Lissa decided to make a career out of writing and illustrating humorous books. She has published more than 300 children's magazine stories, including a monthly series called "Ask Arizona"in Highlights children's magazine.

"I think rhyming and humor were a really big part of our house when I was growing up; just the joy of words and being able to see something funny in everything. There's just a really big connection between us," says Lissa, who graduated from Boulder High School in 1980 and has two kids of her own.

When Lissa was young, her mother would read her bedtime stories to help her fall asleep. Her mother recorded Lissa's favorite books on an old reel-to-reel tape recorder that could hold eight hours per reel. It's no surprise that children's books became a second language for Lissa, who describes her latest collaboration as an absolute joy.

"This by far is the most wonderful treat, to be able to actually come full-circle with my mother who read these children's books to me when I was little," Lissa says. "Now, to have done our own has just been really fun."

The book's modern design has attracted the attention of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Lissa said the museum is interested in carrying "Vile Little Poems" in its bookstore.

Gerda and Lissa's Web site, www.vilelittlepoems.com, will send out a quarterly e-mail newsletter to members. The idea is to create an absurd humor forum online where people can submit their own poems, drawings and musings to share with the community, according to Lissa.

This is their first family collaboration, but they both hope there will be more to come. For Gerda the rhymes continue to flow -- her latest one came a few weeks ago during lunch when she thought: What if you were so hungry you would actually contemplate eating a slug?

"She never ceases to surprise me," said Warren Rovetch, Gerda's husband of 56 years and author of the "Creaky Traveler" travel books. "It just shows you don't need to stop being creative at any age."