Poetry
Since 1996 National Poetry Month is celebrated every April. Introduced by the Academy of American Poets, many different events take place all month long, celebrating and highlighting poetry. One such event, Poem In Your Pocket Day, falls on April 29, 2010. Another, the Poems on the Range Project, is a collection of videos and photos of places associated with iconic poems.
There are many ways to celebrate and teach poetry this April. Browse through the these titles and those from previous years for some selections to share. Books from the past year show the diverse subject matter of quality poetry available to young people--historical, passionate, inspirational, humorous--something for everyone.
And for more information on National Poetry Month visit:
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/
Contributor: Emily Griffin
Reviews
Bunion Burt
Marsha Hayles and Jack E. Davis
Bubbly, bouncing rhymes tell the story of young Burt, who has awful pains in his feet. The melodious poetry is accompanied by hilarious pictures of Burt and those who try to help him as he goes to extreme measures to try to ease his discomfort. The descriptions are colorful: rain is described as "cloudburst sprinkles," and the entire story is filled with charming use of words and country dialect. All of this give humor to an otherwise unpleasant situation for Burt--each potential cure ends up causing an unexpected and disastrous result. The first trial for relief is to go outside to the pigsty and dip his feet into the "juicy muck" of mud that the pig is relaxing in, and when this does not work, Burt's luck simply goes down from there. Just when he cannot take another fix, pappy Spurt comes along with the perfect solution. This fun tale is perfect for reading out loud. 2009, McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, Ages 4 to 8, $16.99. Reviewer: Cherie Ilg Haas (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781416941323
Coconut Jack
Jill Lewis
Illustrated by Erica-Jane Waters
Jack is a student who has been given a creative homework assignment of making something as a contribution to his class's jungle-theme display. Once he gets home from school he quickly makes his very own coconut to share, and then he is out the door on his way to play. But Jack's family is inspired by the assignment (and a little surprised by the simplicity of the coconut) and so they each enthusiastically participate as well by creating new pieces to go along with the lone coconut. Once everything is ready to go, they haul off to school to share their work. But once there, the completed jungle scene does not turn out the way they had all planned. Comical drawings, large text, and amusing thought/speech bubbles lead the reader through the jungle journey. The story itself is written in a poetic/rhyming format and is descriptive of the pictures themselves, providing contextual understanding. This title is part of the "Banana Storybooks" series, specifically Blue Bananas ("Simple Stories for Developing Readers"). 2008, Egmont Press, Ages 7 to 10, $5.99. Reviewer: Cherie Ilg Haas (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781405241328
Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems about Love
Pat Mora
In the introductory material readers learn that most of the poems started out as free verse in which Mora addresses various forms of love--filial, boyfriends, pets and just those warm fuzzy feeling caused by caring for someone or something. Mora decided to take some of her poems and put them into forms some of which like tercet, tanka, letter, pantoum, sestina and villanelle are not all that familiar while sonnet, cinquian, haiku, dialogue and list are much more familiar formats. The effect is to create a varied collection held together by the subject of love. Some poems will bring back memories of first love, friendships that lasted through school but were shattered when it came time for the prom. Perhaps that one held a special significance because it stayed with me-the boy whose company you have enjoyed for years asks someone else to the prom, (your heart almost stops.) There are wonderful poems celebrating an older couple's long life together, family outings and the unfailing love of parents and unquestioning love of a pet for its owner or vice versa. One of the poetic forms used to great effect is the tercet (Revenge X3) where a young man slips the same note to three girls, but finally gets his comeuppance. Yet another wonderful poem, Sisters, extols all the positive aspects of sisterhood. A nice item to be shared with ones own sisters. Teachers should be able to make effective use of this collection and students are bound to find several poems that will resonate. 2010, Knopf/Random House, Ages 10 up, $15.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780375843754
ISBN: 9780375945656
The Dreamer
Pam Munoz Ryan
Illustrated by Peter Sis
When this duo teams up you can be sure you are in for perfection. Neftali Reyes is a quiet, introspective boy who daydreams and makes lists of words and sounds that speak to him. He has a fondness for nature and collects treasures like rocks, bird feathers, shells, and leaves. His father, a bully of a man, deems him a weakling and embarrasses him with public admonitions. Neftali idolizes his Uncle Orlando, a newspaperman who writes and demonstrates openly about the plight of the Mapuche people of Chile. His is a man Neftali's father has little regard for. Through poetry and sparse but eloquent language the reader journeys with Neftali from his childhood to his days at university where the sensitive young man changes his name to Pablo Neruda. Events in Neruda's life are chronicled in a seamless whole. This book will require a sympathetic and compassionate reader to handle the painful events in the young boy's life--from the cruelty of his father, the death of the injured swan Neftali so tenderly cares for, and his terrifying fear of the ocean that his father demands that he conquer. There are also moments of joy as when Neftali spends a quiet boat journey making friends with a Mapuche boy, time spent with his younger sister Laurita, and the supportive moments spent with Uncle Orlando. Each chapter ends with thoughtful questions posed by the boy such as "Which is sharper? The hatchet that cuts down dreams? Or the scythe that clears the path for another?" or "Where is the heaven of lost stories?" These difficult and thought provoking questions will take a special reader to internalize and digest. As a class read with a teacher, this could open the way for deep discussions. Sis's signature style is seen in the countless black-and-white stippled drawings scattered throughout that extend and accentuate the story--even though not all the art was available for viewing because this was an uncorrected proof. This style of writing is a departure for Munoz Ryan as she employs elements of biography and poetry to celebrate this one life. Excerpts of Neruda's poetry is appended that hopefully will lead middle schoolers to pursue more, especially his Book of Questions. This is a story that speaks to the senses and surely will open the hearts and minds of perceptive readers. 2010, Scholastic, Ages 12 to 14, $17.99. Reviewer: Beverley Fahey (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-439-26970-4
An Egret's Day
Jane Yolen
Photographs by Jason Stemple
Mother and son combine their talents, once again, to share the elegant world of the egret. The poetry is often as spare and perfectly formed as the curve in the egret's neck: "Grass stalks,/Then grass walks./Look out, fish." Each page includes a paragraph of prose to tell us what egrets eat, how they fly, and why they preen. "He is his own Laundromat...The talented Great Egret is truly wash-and-wear." Yolen and Stemple will very likely be introducing the egret for the very first time to readers of many ages. Who cannot marvel at the aerodynamic shape of an egret in flight, the white-against-green fluff of an egret roosting, the striking orange beak that stretches all across the cover of the book? Smithsonian ornithologist John H. Rappole served as consultant for An Egret's Day, as art joins science in a celebration of one of the great wonders of nature. 2010, Boyds Mills Press, Ages 6 up, $17.95. Reviewer: Karen Leggett (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-59078-650-5
Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
Linda Glaser
Illustrated by Claire A. Nivola
Although she grew up in a wealthy, loving family, lacking nothing, when Emma Lazarus met poor immigrants in New York Harbor she determined to help them. Many New Yorkers did not want these ragged people in their city. But Emma, already a well-known writer, tried to call attention to their plight in her newspaper articles and poems. In the 1880's, when France was building a huge statue as a gift for the United States to be built in New York Harbor, money was needed for a pedestal. Writers like Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and others like Emma were asked to write something to raise funds. Thinking of the immigrants and how the statue might greet them, Emma wrote the inspirational welcoming words now engraved on a plaque at the entrance to the pedestal. Nivola's stylized but naturalistic illustrations in watercolors and gouache depict the people of the period in appropriate dress and settings, from the Lazarus family and their fashionable home to the immigrants in their life struggles. A couple of scenes depict the statue being constructed and finished. On the front of the jacket/cover, a group of immigrants peers over at the distant statue, while on the back an immigrant family walks past Emma's house as she writes upstairs. The end papers reproduce her sonnet as she wrote it. A note adds information about her. 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Ages 5 to 8, $17.00. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-547-17184-5
Everybody Was a Baby Once and Other Poems
Allan Ahlberg
Illustrated by Bruce Ingman
In the tradition of Ogden Nash and Maurice Sendak, this collection of rhyming verses has something for everyone. As a read-aloud, it gives small children a lot to listen to: rhythm, word play, humor, and the unexpected. For example, "Monster breakfast/ What's to eat?/ Tadpole toasties/ Dreaded wheat." As a reader for an older child, it reinforces language development as a fun activity. "With scaly skin and curly comb/ The Lizard Man is coming home." Even adults will get a laugh from the lighthearted verse. "A woman to her son did utter/ 'Go, my son, and shut the shutter.'/ 'The shutter's shut,' the son did utter/ 'I cannot shut it any shutter.'" The illustrations are lively and colorful and add a lot to the text. They present a great variety of characters including Dirty Bill, monsters, elephants, witches, and babies. The illustrator brings all these characters together on several pages with lively color. The scenes showing the snow storm, the starry night, and the town are particularly striking. 2010, Candlewick Press, Ages 2 up, $15.99. Reviewer: Sue Poduska (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4682-0
Fancy Nancy Poet Extraordinaire!
Jane O'Connor
Fancy Nancy's name rhymes, so she is "naturally poetic," and in this introduction to poetry, she shows her fans how they can write and appreciate poetry as well. Nancy shows off her famiy and friend's favorite poems and offers examples from a class "poet-tree" project in which each student writes a short poem on a construction paper leaf. She even creates an anthology of her own favorite poems. Writing poetry is easy for Nancy's best friend Bree, but despite having all the necessary tools (like "a pen with a plume" and a notebook with a "glittery cover"), Nancy just cannot find her muse until her teacher urges her just to write without worrying about the rules. During Nancy's exploration of poetry, she defines some important terms such as "couplet" and "ode," and offers examples of highly structured poems such as limericks as well as non-rhyming poems. Robin Preiss Glasser's characteristically cheerful, pink-hued illustrations contribute plenty of humor. Fancy Nancy's many young fans are sure to try their own hand at poetry--or at least seek out other examples of poetry to read--after reading Nancy's inspiring tale. 2010, HarperCollins, Ages 4 to 7, $12.99. Reviewer: Norah Piehl (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-189643-9
Full Count: A Baseball Number Book
Brad Herzog
Illustrated by Bruce Langton
Facts and history of the game of baseball are introduced along with the numbers one through ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, fifty, seventy-five, and one hundred. A quatrain strategically placed on the illustration is in a larger typeface than the historical information, explanations and trivia that accompany it on the side. Among the many things readers will learn are: how many players may suit up for a team, what is meant by a "full count" and a "double play." They will read that the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League played from 1943 to 1954. Tee ball players will read about their game, and they will learn about some famous major league players. Some Yogi Berra-isms are included, too. Langton's full-color illustrations and realistic style show the players in interesting poses and various perspectives. It looks like Langton has cleverly incorporated some computer graphics in his paintings to represent the higher numbers. There is a little inconsistency, for some numbers have a single page; some have a double-page spread. Parents can read just the poem to preschoolers and add more information for older children. The picture book format is a good way to begin presenting baseball information to young children. It is a fun way to learn about baseball and to learn numbers. 2009, Sleeping Bear Press, Ages 4 to 8, $17.95. Reviewer: Sharon Salluzzo (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-58536-429-9
Hip Hop Dog
Chris Raschka
Illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky
Who is the coolest, right-est, doggies rule-est? It is Hip Hop Dog who raps and tells his tale. He reminisces and laments his sad story which starts out as one pup in a huge litter of sixteen brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, he finds no takers to give him a home. With feelings of rejection, Hip Hop Dog wanders the streets. He seems bitter about his current status until he discovers his talent as a hip hop dog. His world changes as he struts his stuff with a 'jazzle' and dazzle. This canine story is told in rhyme with a beat which on occasion gets tricky to read. Some of the lines in the text infer motion as they circle around in a swirl and increase in size on the layout. The illustrations are bright and rich; they interestingly capture the dancing moves. The background colors reflect Hip Hop Dog's changing feelings as he finds his place in the world doing what he does best. 2010, Harper/HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 4 to 8, $16.99. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-123963-2
ISBN: 978-0-06-123964-9
Hot Cha-Cha!
Josephine Nobisso
Illustrated by Joan Holub
Who, what, why, when, where, and how? The kids wanted to know. That is the basis for this book of poetry. WHO...found something in the cookie jar? It was not Hector, Shanequa, or Ali Kumar, but it was Maria. When Maria put her hand in the cookie jar, the kids wanted to know, WHAT did she find? Maria found the key to the playground lock. She was so excited by her find that she went up and down her block telling all the kids she had found the key. The kids had a hard time remembering WHY the key had been lost. Could it have been lost when they were swinging so high? The key had not been seen since the Fourth of July but what part of the day? WHERE could the key have flown? Just how far away? Could it have gone to Tunisia, maybe even Korea? They went really high on the swings. Finally, HOW did Maria manage to come across the key? Laughing and singing, the children were glad to have the cookie jar to keep the key safe. This book was listed twice with two other publishers before Gingerbread House picked it up in 2009. The publisher is excited to be offering this rhyming book and is looking for comments from readers. Unusual for most books, the entire jacket is a tutorial for understanding rhyming and writing poetry. The illustrations are amazing: bright colors and children's faces full of joy. The pages are a medley of color, swirls, action, and children. I would suggest reading the book to children when they can view the pages. 2010, ABDO Publishing, Ages 8 to 12, $25.65. Reviewer: Debby Willett (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780940112186
Limericks
Valerie Bodden
Limericks are poems that appeal to children and this book spends time explaining the history and mechanics of limericks to young writers. This book is part of the "Poetry Basics" series. It begins by explaining what poetry is and why people write it. Edward Lear popularized the limerick and made it accessible to children. Several limericks are shown throughout the book and help to illustrate the information about limericks explained on the page. Examples of rhyming word pairs and stressed syllables are explained so that the young writer can apply them in their own writing. Alliteration, humor, nonsense verse, and the subject matter of limericks are also explicated. This is not a poetry anthology but a history and how-to about writing in this form. A "Think Like a Poet" section is available at the back of the book and gives exercises for poets to try their hand at limericks. Vintage illustrations are shown throughout the book and help to illustrate the history of the limerick. Books for further reading, a glossary, bibliography, and an index are included in the back matter. This series would make an excellent addition to a writing reference collection in a classroom or library. 2009, Creative Education, Ages 10 up, $28.50. Reviewer: Marcie Flinchum Atkins (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781583417775
ISBN: 158341777X
Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices
Jessie Hartland
Read-aloud books incorporate an assortment of lessons, subject matter, and enjoyable content while marvelous oral language is featured. Children are naturally curious and eager to become fully involved in the process. In this case, for example, nineteen poems for two voices create a much different engaging activity. Vocalizing poetry may or may not be a common practice in classrooms or other gatherings, but they certainly can be inviting like reader's theater, oral stories, and dramatic presentations. Having two people alternate the lines brings a new dimension to every rendition. In a short introduction, the author explains how to guide pairs of participants while offering other ways to read them aloud with somewhat larger groups. Since the general topic of school is so familiar, students are unlikely to stumble through or lose their audience. Laughter should be encouraged! Specifically, poems cover events in and around a school day such as "Our Tired Teacher Must Not Be Listening," "Jump Rope Jingle," "In the Library," "Wild Bus Ride," "I Can't Wait," "Homework Blues," "New Kid at School," "Backboard Rap," "Animal Reports," "Weird Stuff in the Lost and Found," "Jenny's Pencil," and "Whirr, Whirr, Zing, Zap." There are poems that have rhyme and rhythm while others are free verse. It is significant to note that much of the vocabulary is in the form of onomatopoeia which creates vivid mental images. This powerful technique is useful for educators and students who use it to address other subjects within language arts and across the curriculum, i.e. speaking, listening, reading and writing. It is unfortunate, however, that illustrations are not as bold or large enough for listeners to enjoy as portrayed by the excellent poetry. As a picture book for older elementary and middle schoolers, it could be somewhat of a disappointment for visual learners. Even so, wrapping up the collection is a very fine section called "Adventurous Ways to Read the Poems" that helps readers incorporate variety, unique forms, and unlimited presentations with friends and colleagues. Integrating poetry into classes becomes readily available with works such as this one. Dive in! 2009, Candlewick Press, Ages 9 to 12, $18.99. Reviewer: Susan Treadway, M.Ed. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780763631741
ISBN: 0763631744
Mirror, Mirror
Marilyn Singer
Illustrated by Josée Masse
Singer has created a form of poetry called the reverso. Read traditionally down one side of a page it tells one story. Read in reverse, with only punctuation and capitalization change allowed, it can tell a very different one, "...particularly for telling two sides of one story." The topic here is fairy tales. The verse is free, the words chosen cleverly and carefully to evoke emotion in the telling. Some contrasting tales work better than others, but all are thought-provoking as we admire the craft in the creation. Stories told in contrasting verses include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and her prince, Rapunzel, the Frog Prince, and Beauty and the Beast among others. The split poem occupies one page. On the opposite page is a split picture, with one major character opposing another, each in a setting with appropriate content. Characters and content painted in a flat decorative style tell the visual tales in ways that add romantic humor to the verses. Trying to write this kind of poem could be a real challenge to young readers. 2010, Dutton Children's Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, Ages 7 to 12, $16.99.
Reviewers:: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 978-0-525-47901-7
Modern American Poetry: Echoes and Shadows
Sheila Griffin Llanas
The time period described by the term "modernism" in American poetry is the first half of the twentieth century. The movement is sometimes called "The Golden Age of American Poetry," and includes such giants as Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot, whose works remain popular today; but it also includes lesser known poets whose work is equally representative. The period is characterized by a break from traditions and a freedom to experiment with meter and rhyme. Part of the "Poetry Rocks!" series, this collection is a survey of poets from the period and selections of some of their works. The poets discussed are Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, H.D., Marianne Moore, T.S. Eliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay, e.e. cummings, Louise Bogan, and Langston Hughes. Each chapter presents a brief biographical sketch of the poet, along with samples of his or her work and some discussion of themes and techniques used. There is also a section discussing what the critics of the day wrote about the poet and the work. Chapter notes, a glossary, a list of additional reading sources, and an index are appended. Literature classes will make good use of the selections in this book and the series, as well. 2009, Enslow Publishers, Ages 14 up, $34.60. Reviewer: Ellen Welty (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-7660-3276-7
ISBN: 0-7660-3276-7
Nest, Nook & Cranny
Susan Blackaby
Illustrated by Jamie Hogan
"Otters loll like whiskered boats,/Bobbing gently in the swells." Utilizing similes and many other "figures of speech," Blackby has created an enchanting tool for teaching as well as for pure enjoyment. Here her poetry covers five different habitats (desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, and woodland) and the creatures that dwell in each particular area. The table of contents reveals these five divisions and also lists "habitats" and "writing poetry." The last two sections are invaluable. The habitats section succinctly defines the environment, flora, and fauna of each specialized environment; while the "writing poetry" section has references to individual poems which explain the poetic form used or gives explanations of how the poem was researched and developed. Teachers will be pleased to have precise explanations of such terms as homophones, sibilance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, consonance, and rhyme schemes. Blackaby employed a variety of poetic forms to support the various themes she presented, including: couplets, triolet, sonnet, unrhymed couplets, villanelle, than-bauk (a Burmese form), and a variety of rhyme schemes. Her explanations of the forms chosen for the different poems will open new channels of writing prowess for those who create their own poetry and those who aspire to do so. Pastel and charcoal pencil line drawings perfectly match the tone of the poems and give support to the information revealed in them as well. The drawing that goes with the heron poem gives life to the lines: "Herons walk with stilted steps/Stalking, cautious, through the marsh..." Every school and public library needs to own this gem. 2010, Charlesbridge, Ages 7 up, $15.95. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-58089-350-3
Poetrees
Douglas Florian
Florian uses deftly crafted, refreshingly unforced rhymes to celebrate a dozen trees and their components. The roles of seeds, roots, bark, and tree rings are all given poetic attention, while the trees included range from coconut palm and baobab to weeping willow and yews. Play with words and with their arrangement on the pages abounds, as does wry humor. "I'm nuts about the coconut./ I'm cuckoo for the coco./ I'm crazed for this amazing nut./ For coco I am loco." The book opens from top to bottom to allow the trees to grow vertically across the gutters. The mixed media illustrations are delightfully innocent, suggesting perhaps the directness of children. They create their impression using gouache watercolor paints, colored pencils, rubber stamps, oil pastels, and collage on primed brown paper bags. The end pages repeat the bark of the scribbly gum, "...where larvae left their mark...Lovely woodcuts for the viewing." The pages suggest rather than represent nature; while dominated by the tree, each double page also offers bits of surprises to challenge the acuity of the reader. A final two-page "Glossatree" offers facts about all the subjects. Florian adds background on the trees in his life and the importance of the role trees for the earth, along with a bibliography. 2010, Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, Ages 5 to Adult, $16.99. Reviewers: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
ISBN: 978-1-4169-8672-0
Red Sings from the Treetops: A Year in Colors
Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
Colors are personified in free verse as they dance through the seasons of the year. "Red sings from treetops" in the spring, and "squirms on the road after rain." Green is shy, however, peeking from buds. Yellow "shouts with light!" and greets purple. Blue, white, and pink all make an appearance. In summer, "white clinks in drinks," yellow "melts everything," green "is queen." Each of the other colors has a page to bring alive their summer roles. In the fall, "green is tired..." brown rises, orange ripens, as the other colors change as well. Winter brings new descriptions, all on target, of the colors, with white the outstanding player. Zagarenski chooses a strange, mysteriously crowned human and small white dog to march us through the pages and seasons. Scraps of newspapers and other decorative fragments are combined with mixed media paintings on wood and computer illustrations to create illustrations that demand considerable scrutiny. The names of the colors are printed in their color inks to call attention to them. The poetic, evocative text balances the intriguing visuals in this attractive combination. 2009, Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ages 5 to 9, $16.00. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780547014944
ISBN: 0547014945
The Robin Makes a Laughing Sound: A Birder's Journal
Sallie Wolf
Illustrated by Micah Bornstein
The handsome binding and pleasing size are just the first part of the instant attraction this collection of poetry about birds and nature exerts over book browsers. The loose watercolors and pen & ink illustrations carry the reader from the front cover right through to the last page listing resources (both electronic and books). Charming is an overused word in describing books, but in this case it is perfect. Wolf's habit of keeping a daily journal of bird sightings, weather phenomena, and sometimes her feelings is a gift and an example for students and adults alike. Deceptively simple poems reflect her delight, surprise, and interest in the various birds that frequent her feeders and yard. She notes the different species and remarks upon particular individuals as they hunt for food, seek shelter, and raise their young. The pages of actual journals and originals on handmade paper were photocopied and utilized for the book. The display type looks as if it were handwritten (which may be harder for younger readers to decipher) while the actual poems are in an easy to read font. The pages appear to have been mounted in the book in a casual manner but the placement is artfully arranged and the tiny sketches on the background paper give additional viewpoints of drawings or snippets of scientific information. In some cases the original wording of a poem will appear, showing the re-writing and refining process in a concrete way for the reader to observe how important the selection of the "exact" word can be, especially in poetry. The poems themselves are thought provoking and varied in style: free verse and more formal rhyme schemes stand side by side with excellent effect for the particular subject matter. The poem "Riddle" has its opening text printed in an egg shape; while the two halves of an egg which has cracked contain the closing line: "Once they are peck-peck-peckled, I find two pieces on the ground." This title is perfect for individual enjoyment but will serve as a wonderful resource in an English or science classroom. Teachers will be pleased to use this book to inspire journal writing, observation, and organization of ideas and materials. 2010, Charlesbridge, Ages 7 up, $11.95. Reviewer: Sheilah Egan (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-58089-318-3
Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World
Marilyn Nelson
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Award-winning artists Nelson and Pinkney collaborate to pay tribute to an extraordinary group of musicians: racially integrated, beautiful young women who traveled the country in the 1940s with their popular swing band. Nelson's poems are written in the voices of instruments of the band. Though each poem takes its title from a song, the words reflect rhythms of the music and conditions of the time: the war, traveling in their bus, Jim Crow laws, the blues, popular dances, the end of the war, and, soon after, the breakup of the band. Pinkney conveys the intensity of the music and the players' lives, combining collage with watercolors in dark and bright colors like turquoise, swinging scarlet, bright gold, and vivid blue. There are subdued browns, too--the drab of soldiers' uniforms, the earth of a victory garden, the depressing brown of a hall with separate drinking fountains for white and "colored"--but also the warm, vibrant browns of musicians' and audiences' faces. Readers will choose their own favorites among both poems and pictures; outstanding, for example, is "I'm in the Mood for Swing," with saxophonist Willie Mae Wong sitting on her suitcase by the bus, rubbing her foot just out of its red high-heeled pump. Both Author's Note and Artist's Note expand upon the band's history. This is not really a book for children; it is for music-lovers of all ages, devotees of jazz and African-American history, or women's history, or just the history of the United States. 2009, Dial/Penguin, Ages 10 up, $21.99. Reviewer Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3187-5
We Troubled the Waters
Ntozake Shange
Paintings by Rod Brown
Poems written by author and poet Shange depict the everyday lives of amazing people who fought for justice during the Civil Rights Movement. Illustrator Brown's paintings show the emotional experiences that African Americans endured during this time. Poems capture the story of hardship, joy, sadness, and hope, beginning with Booker T. Washington School where children were eager to learn and just wanted a place to learn. The poem "Cleaning Gal" begins, "if they catch me sittin/just' for a moment I might lose this heah job/but I can't 'ford to do that...." "Water Fountains," "Where I Live," and "Crying Trees, where slaves were hung," tell the story of a people who died and cried out for justice. Rosa Parks in the front of a bus shows the bravery of one woman who refused to give in to racism. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s poem begins with "millions of denigrated/humiliated negroes/without enough food/land/schools, or shoes always walkin in fear...." The unity of a race is shown in the poem "And We Marched" as they "walk arm in arm, marching cause this is our land too was time somebody knew." The poems are stark and strong while the bold, emotion-filled paintings fill the pages. The author has written a powerful book, a story of a fight for freedom, told through poems and illustration that linger long after the book is put down. 2009, HarperCollins Publishers, Ages 10 up, $16.99. Reviewer: Della A. Yannuzzi (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-133735-2
Weekend Mischief
Rob Jackson
Illustrated by Mark Beech
So much can happen during the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Dad, the "grumpus," may just help in getting you out of bed with tickles. Perhaps the freshly baked biscuits waiting for eager appetites will charm you. Your short weekend may be scheduled for those "not again" chores (sigh) or an appointment with the slicing clippers at the barbershop. On the other hand, how about thrilling rides and food-filled day at the fair that you wish that you could do all over again? Or a special road trip to visit grandma for the weekend? Those times are just a few that reflect the mischief of the weekend. The hilarious poems share the boring, thrilling, silly, enjoyable memories of different weekends through the perspective of a boy. He sometimes finds the weekend can move all too fast with fun and he shares his idea on how he extends his bedtime. The watercolor, pen and ink illustrations provide addition enjoyment to the collection of poems. Time will fly quickly with laughter when these poems are read aloud. 2010, Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press, Ages 6 to 9, $17.95. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-59078-494-5
The Year of Goodbyes
Debbie Levy
Jutta Salzberg's "year of goodbyes" was 1938, the year she turned twelve. In that year her Jewish family left Germany and sailed to the United States to avoid imprisonment and likely death at the hands of the Nazis. How narrowly the Salzbergs escaped extermination becomes chillingly clear in the later pages of Debbie Levy's lovely book, The Year of Goodbyes. Levy, who is Jutta Salzberg's daughter, tells her mother's story in a cycle of twenty-six poems inspired by the Poesiealbum, or autograph book, that Jutta circulated among friends and relations during this memorable year. Album entries are touchstones for Levy's unadorned, potent free verse, which chronicles Jutta's life as a schoolgirl in a changing Hamburg, her father's tireless effort to transport his family to safety, a final summer vacation with relatives in Poland, and the journey itself. Levy perfectly captures a twelve-year-old's world view in one of the finest poems, "Slipping Away": "I can't imagine/ being as old as/ Mother and Father,/ but I also can't imagine/ not becoming as old as them." Adult life seems impossibly far away, yet death seems, simply, impossible. Life in Jutta's Hamburg confronted children with death's inevitability without hardening them to it, so that the loss of a beloved parakeet could still trigger grief. A selection of photographs enriches the reader's experience of Jutta's year, and an afterword fleshes out her story, carries it to the present, and reveals the fate of many children and loved ones who appear in earlier pages. Some of the latter is strong stuff. Highly recommended. 2010, Hyperion/Disney, Ages 10 up, $16.99. Reviewer: Catherine Reef (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-4231-2901-1
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Added March 26, 2010
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