Woof-Tastic Treats For National Poetry Month

All you have to do is gaze upon the face of a dog and know there is much more to them than meets the eye.  Science tells us of their extra special sensory skills.  Increasingly we are learning more about how their minds work.  History tells us of their amazing feats.  But the looks they give us, their body language and even the way they sigh, tell us how their souls transcend known facts.

In 2019 two books focusing on dogs and poetry were released.  The first Bark in the Park!: Poems for Dog Lovers (Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., March 26, 2019) written by Avery Corman with pictures by Hyewon Yum takes us on a stroll through a variety of breeds.  Their characteristics are praised in lyrical phrases and animated images.

Afghan Hound
Although he's noble and aloof,
He's still a dog, so he still says, "Woof!"

In the initial poem of thirty-eight, even if we've never seen an Afghan Hound, we know this is a regal dog in their demeanor.  For the next few poems dogs are presented in alphabetical order, most with four-line poems.  Then among the presentation of Boxer and Bulldog, a poem about a Pug appears.  This is exactly what you can expect from dogs.  They don't care about alphabetical order.

Next the size of a Great Dane is compared to that of a Chihuahua. A Cocker Spaniel with ears flapping like wings runs near a Bedlington Terrier.  Did you know they look like a sheep?  Several other terriers, Bull, Smooth Fox and Jack Russell, strut their stuff, muscle, moxie and a whiz.

Lovable but nevertheless canines with strong dispositions, the German Shepherd, Doberman Pinscher and Rottweiler are skillfully described.  We walk by dogs who love the water, those who bring back items and people. like the Labrador Retriever and Newfoundland.  Dogs who cuddle, race and rescue lead us home.  Then and there, we get to enjoy our own special furry friends, of all shapes, sizes and ages.


As a debut picture book author Avery Corman, better known for his adult titles, is first in show with his two and four-line poems.  Clearly, he has studied each breed he presents portraying their distinguishing personalities with keen insight.  All his two-line poems rhyme or use repetition.  Of his four-line poems you are never sure what kind of rhyming scheme will be used or if repetition will be part of the form his poems take.  Here are two more poems.

Jack Russell Terrier
She's going to catch any ball you toss her.
The Russell fetches like a whiz.
She doesn't like any dog to boss her.
She thinks she's bigger than she is.

Saint Bernard
The Saint Bernard is helpful.
She'll help you in a snap.
But if she wants to take a nap,
She won't fit in your lap.


The image spanning from left to right, on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, shows a gathering of many different breeds of dogs focused on the little girl, looking at each other or at readers.  This moment is magical for it's highly unlikely all those dogs would ever sit there quietly unless it's someone whose heart matches their own.  This scene is an invitation to join the dogs and this girl on their daily adventures.  The child and her guardian/parent are in every illustration throughout the book.

On the opening and closing endpapers all thirty-eight dogs, nineteen on the front and nineteen on the back, are depicted in their very best stance.  Each one is labeled.  On the title page a portion of an interior image is used.  It's a boy taking a yellow ball from the mouth of his Labrador Retriever.

Artist Hyewon Yum, like the author, has surely studied each of these breeds.  She has rendered them is all their perfection.  It's wonderful how the humans and their dogs match.  Children are everywhere in the illustrations being their charming selves.  We begin the visuals with homes along a street.  The little girl and her guardian/parent are walking down their steps as the Afghan Hound walks by with two humans, the younger one is much more interested in two squirrels. At the end of the book we are back at the home but Hyewon Yum brings us close to the open doorway and porch steps.

Each page turn reveals a double-page picture from a variety of perspectives.  Each is like a map of the walk taken by the little girl as we travel through the community and the park.  Individuals and their dogs in one picture will appear in the next picture.  It's great fun to notice all the details.

One of my many favorite illustrations shows students boarding a school bus.  A Border Collie is trying to keep the little gals and guys in line.  One student hanging on to the hand of the teacher is pointing to a squirrel. (Squirrels are in a lot of pictures.)  The squirrel is standing up with arms and paws folded in front of him.  Across the street the little girl is walking with her guardian/parent in one direction.  In the other direction a lady with her Collie is waiting to cross.  They appear in the next picture.  This image, like all of them, are in full, bright colors with delicate line work.


On April 2, 2019 Thinker My Puppy Poet And Me (Sourcebooks, Jabberwocky) written by Eloise Greenfield with pictures by Ehsan Abdollahi was released. As previously stated, there is more to dogs, especially this dog, than science can tell us.  There is a secret this dog and his owner share.

Naming Me
They brought me from the neighbor's house
and put me on the floor,
they talked about their love for me,
and I thought, "More! More! More!

I kept my eyes from opening,
I kept my voice on mute,
until I heard somebody say,
"Let's name him something cute."

That's all this puppy needs to hear before he starts to talk.  His boy named Jace hears him and knows him to be a poet.  That's why he is named Thinker.  In fifteen more poems Thinker and Jace poetically reveal their lives in this new family situation.

After his welcome party, Thinker and Jace, have a serious conversation about their ability to communicate with poems.  For Thinker without speaking in poems, everything else is a series of barks and woofs.  The twosome tackle life's mysteries together but Thinker simply does not understand why he has to stay home when Jace goes to school.  (He does enjoy Kimmy, Jace's little sister.)

Wherever they go, Thinker must remember to not recite poems.  One day, Thinker is told tomorrow is Pets' Day at school.  He gets to go with Jace, but he must promise not to talk.  Do you think he can keep that promise?  What do you think will happen if the promise is broken?


These poems written by Eloise Greenfield can be read repeatedly and the spirited wonder of each one never fades.  Each one has a special cadence through word choices, rhyming, and poetic styles like free verse, haiku and a rousing rap.  Some are in the voice of Thinker and others have Jace speaking.  Readers will leave each reading believing in the truth of Thinker and his best friend, Jace, and wanting to meet them both.  Here is a poem by Thinker.

Birds Fly
Birds fly,
flap their wings,
and touch the sky.
Why can't I just
wag my tail
and sail?


Rendered using handmade and hand-colored paper. . .to create the collage art all the images, beginning on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, convey the warm and happy affection between this boy and his dog and his family.  This display of bright colors with the white title text on the blue background greets readers and asks us to open this book.  To the left, on the back, Jace and Thinker are looking at us from behind a wall.  Their expressions convey they have a secret and we are about to be a party to it.

A gorgeous illustration is spread across the opening and closing endpapers.  On a pale blue sky canvas along the bottom are varying shades of pink blossoms with spots of yellow. Thinker on the left is running through them. Blossoms billow into the air as a lovely, vividly-hued swallow takes flight on the right.

Each visual spans a full-page or double-page.  We are usually close to the characters in the poems.  This gives a more intimate feel to each image.  The eyes on the people are beautiful, large and expressive.  The collage work of Ehsan Abdollahi is so exquisite we feel as though each scene will burst into life at any moment.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the poem titled Two Poets Talking.  It is set in the neighborhood.  Three little girls are playing outside in the grass in front of shrubs and a large tree.  One of them is Kimmy.  On the right, closer to readers, Jace is seated on porch steps.  Thinker is nestled between his legs with his front paws on Jace's chest.  The boy has his hands gently cupping Thinker's head.


Bark in the Park!: Poems for Dog Lovers written by Avery Corman with picture by Hyewon Yum and Thinker: My Puppy Poet And Me written by Eloise Greenfield with pictures by Ehsan Abdollahi are books that must be shared with readers one-on-one or aloud with a group.  They will appeal to a wide range of ages.  I highly recommend them for your professional and personal collections especially for National Poetry Month and Pet Month.  They are a splendid display of poetry, pets and pictorial portraits.  At the close of Thinker: My Puppy Poet And Me Eloise Greenfield has written a letter to readers.

To learn more about Hyewon Yum, Eloise Greenfield and Ehsan Abdollahi and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access personal or professional websites highlighting them.  Hyewon Yum has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Eloise Greenfield has an account on Twitter.  Ehsan Abdollahi has accounts on Instagram and Twitter.  Eloise Greenfield is interviewed at The Horn Book, CSK Blog and the Center for the Collaborative Classroom.  Enjoy the videos.

To Fabulous Fathers

There is not a day that passes without me thinking of my dad.  Something will trigger a memory of something he said or something he did.  There was nothing that man could not mend.  More than twenty years have come and gone but the sound of his laughter rings inside my mind as if he's in the room with me.

I can still see him sitting after a hard day's work in "his" chair reading one of his beloved historical fiction titles.  After reading My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, May 16, 2017) poems and illustrations by Hope Anita Smith, my deepest desire is to be able to read these poems to him.  They speak of the love children hold in their hearts forever for their fathers.

My Daddy
My daddy is a porcupine
with whiskers that are prickly.
My daddy is an octopus
who finds where I am tickly.

Four more animals are likened to this child's daddy.  He lifts high, encourages flight, stays up late and hugs with a hug that says he will never let go. In the next reflection a child speaks about how he silently goes about the house because his daddy is sleeping.  To close the poem, the humor sneaks in as he describes the noise his father's snores make.

A father gets up early to make a special breakfast for his child.  There is something deeply spiritual in this kind of communion; a meal and a conversation shared only by two.  For those children whose dads are away, a letter and a prayer are sent.  Is there anything more fun or anxiety-causing than a haircut at home....by a dad?  Dancing on daddy's feet, lifted twirling in the air, and those wrestling matches when you win are moments firmly filed in the good times folder.

Those days into evenings when you wait patiently and then with sadness for dad are never easy but then the magic happens.  Perhaps the street is lined with trees or buildings or the road with rows of corn but it's all the same when you and your dad work together to make the first bike ride happen.  A dad's anger, his disappointment, is hard to hear but his love despite this is steadfast.

Different dads have different occupations but one job makes this child happiest.  Dads never stop doing what they believe is best.  Dads pass on beloved rituals from generation to generation.  Each dad looks at the world in a way that makes them a hero to their child.


No matter how many times I read and reread these fifteen poems written by Hope Anita Smith what remains unwavering is her knowing; knowing how each child, the child still in adults, feels about and remembers their dads.  She has placed universal truths on these pages conveying the essence of the relationship shared by fathers and their daughters and their sons.  The voice of the child narrator rings with clarity, conviction, confidence and most of all, love.  Her use of rhyme, free verse and questions and answers creates a heartwarming cadence and welcomes reader participation.  Here are the final four lines in the poem My First Book.

Dad and I are readers.
We are word men, through and through.
I hope you have a dad like mine
who loves to read to you.


Created with torn paper the illustrations, beginning with the matching dust jacket and book case, portray the same marvelous oneness as the text.  All readers can see themselves in these images; they connect us further to the poems.  This is a book for all of us.  Look at the dad's hand lifting up his son's chin.  That single act says look at me and know that what I say will stand the test of time.  I think the way the two figures frame the text is brilliant.

To the left, on the back, a father bends and grabs the seat of his daughter's bike as she rides a two-wheeler for the first time.  The pale blue background used on the jacket and case create a sense of calm.  It is a darker, richer, hue of blue on both the opening and closing endpapers.

Most of the pictures are on a pristine white background highlighting the varied, colorful papers used by Hope Anita Smith.  The sizes may span an entire single page, cross the gutter in varying degrees, or stretch across both pages.  To elevate the design Hope places additional pieces of paper above, below or along the sides of the text.  There is a fine line of white between each piece of paper.

I love that there are no features on the faces of the individual people.  This frees the reader to take the emotion from the poems and fashion the expressions themselves.  This is a gift from Hope Anita Smith to us.

One of my many favorite pictures is of the child watching his daddy sleeping.  The father is sprawled in a flowered, over-stuffed chair.  He is enjoying a weekend nap in my way of thinking.  His glasses are on top of his head.  The boy is leaning on the arm of the chair, quiet but also wondering how one human being can make so much noise.  The blend of paper patterns is wonderful.

This is one book I will keep close to me.  My Daddy Rules the World: Poems about Dads poems and illustrations by Hope Anita Smith is also a title to gift whenever possible.  It will definitely be a choice during trick-or-treat at Halloween at my home.  As a read aloud it's a dream come true.  Make sure to have a copy on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To discover more about Hope Anita Smith and her other work, please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  To view interior images visit the publisher's website.  This title is featured by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup.  Author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson showcases this title at Kirkus and on her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

Small But Mighty

You may not be able to see them all the time, but you can certainly hear them.  Their buzzing, chirping and whining announce their arrival and residence.  Others who live in relative silence leave behind their handiwork in the shape of silken webs or sandy hills.  It can be said that several of them are the ultimate survivors, their existence noted before the dinosaurs.

Some take wing and fly as soon as we approach.  Others, as still as stone, blend in with their surroundings. If we are fortunate enough to see them, it's like a gift.  Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt And Company, May 9, 2017) written by Carol Murray with illustrations by Melissa Sweet is a lighthearted, informative approach to acquainting readers with members of the insect community; twenty-nine poems take us on a journey through their buggy realm.

Cricket's Alarm

Cricket in the thicket, cricket.
Cricket in the house, cricket.
Cricket in the bedroom, not as quiet as a mouse, cricket.
Cricket in the closet in a pocket or a shoe, cricket. ...

As the male cricket chirps we are reminded other cultures keep them in their homes as pets.  Can you guess which insects number the highest in the world?  Delicate to touch, as light as a feather, a cicada leaves behind a layer.  No weaver but a wanderer, the jumping spider uses silk to enhance travel toward prey.

The next time you see an inchworm carefully watch how they move before they become moths.  Bumblebees keep our flower population thriving sharing the task as pollinators with honey bees.  Dung beetles were sacred in ancient times?  Who knew? They have a secret which makes them able to swim underwater; water beetles do more than skate along the surface.  Is it a stick that looks like a bug or a bug that looks like a stick?

If you are a feathered friend, beware the milkweed muncher, they are poisonous and so are their majestic butterflies, monarchs.  Do you know the other name for harvestman?  Who has ears near their knees?  If their web is no longer useful, spiny-back spiders eat them.

When the dreaded mosquito is near, she had better look before she bites if an ebony jewelwing is close.  If we only saw life through a microscope (sometimes not always), these creepy crawlies, fruit fly, tick and mite, would be given more attention earlier.  In truth some bugs bug us but these poetic and visual tributes tell and show us, they are indeed mighty.


You will want to run outside as soon as possible after reading these lively verses penned by Carol Murray.  She has created an excitement for bugs!  Her focus is on the essential quality of each insect.  Her rhyming, rhythmic lines replicate those characteristics.  In small paragraphs at the bottom of the page she elaborates on something mentioned in the poem.  Here is one of her poems in its entirety.

Dragons Fly the Sky                         S
A lovely wisp,                                       R
awash in blue,                                  A
with light and lacy wings,          O
a mini-glider in the sky, who S
but never stings.


Woven in, around and under the title text Melissa Sweet places many of the bugs highlighted in the narrative.  She gives them personality with a plus!  The varnished red on cricket and green on thicket add to the pizzazz of her design.  To the left, on the back, the poem noted above is placed on a light background with a group of dragonflies flying around a naturalist's collection envelope.  The opening and closing endpapers are the same shade of red as the title text.

These illustrations rendered in watercolor and mixed media are as fascinating as the subjects they feature.  On the title page a grasshopper is leaping over an array of flowers beneath the text.  On the dedication page a close-up of a leaf shows a grasshopper munching out a large hole.  He is looking right at the reader through the gap in the leaf.

For each poem a distinctive, individualistic image has been created, many of them bringing the insect world closer to readers. Most of them are on single pages but for three Sweet spans two pages.  Her unique details will have you stopping at every page turn; a cricket poised on the edge of a red tennis shoe, ants crawling over a single stalk as a night scene unfolds, inchworms and measuring tape for a garden plot, the B in buzz becoming bumblebee wings, six circles showing a roly-poly rolling...up and unrolling and June bugs blasting against a light bulb.  Her style and color combinations take you into the moment.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the inchworms.  The background is a dark sage green.  A root vegetable (radish) is magnified.  On three sides a blue-green measuring tape frames it.  Pieces of tape are strategically placed off the top, bottom and left sides.  Inchworms are crawling along the top and left sides.


Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs written by Carol Murray with illustrations by Melissa Sweet is one of those wonderful books with multiple appeal.  You can use it in an insect unit or an exploration of poetry.  There is a contents section at the beginning and Cricket Notes at the end.  These provide even more information about each bug.  You really need a copy of this title on your professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Carol Murray and Melissa Sweet please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  Carol Murray has a book trailer for this title on her site.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.

Honoring Wordsmith Heroes

The month of April is coming to a close but the observance of National Poetry Month need not stop.  Let's just think of this month as an introduction to a literary form allowing everyone to express themselves in a variety of writing styles every single day of the year.  If you have a flair for visualizing shapes, pen a concrete poem.  If you wish to focus on the natural world, the five-seven-five syllable haiku is the perfect kind of poem for you.  If you enjoy even more structure, the five line cinquain asking for a single noun, two adjectives, three -ing participles, a four word phrase and closing with a synonym for the first noun is what you should write.  If you like the rhythms of rhyming create a couplet.

Poetry beckons to the universal qualities found in all people.  Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets (Candlewick Press, March 14, 2017) written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth with illustrations by Ekua Holmes expresses the admiration held by these three poets and artist for twenty other poets.  They have collaborated to inspire others as they were inspired.

In the first of three parts, Got Style?, poets are featured for creating a signature style.  With recognition and respect the poems written about them underscore their individuality.  Kwame Alexander's How To Write A Poem celebrating Naomi Shihab Nye will have you reaching for the nearest means to record your thoughts.  The same peace we find in Robert Frost's contemplations is echoed in Marjory Wentworth's In Every Season.  Gathered thoughts, separated by pauses, lyrically define poetry in a manner reminiscent of the work of Nikki Giovanni using all lower case letters.  Snapshots by Chris Colderley is a loving tribute.

In Your Shoes, the second section, focuses on poetry written by one author (us?) which reads like it was written by a favorite poet.  Beginning with basketball and continuing the analogy dreams are shared, glory days of youth are remembered and heroes of Harlem are saluted in Walter, Age Ten celebrating Walter Dean Myers by Kwame Alexander.  We travel to the private place in Chile beloved by poet Pablo Neruda in The Music Of The Earth written by Marjory Wentworth.  Calm is found in nature by a man devoted to poetry, politics and his people.  Majestic musings about those who walked before us on Tambourine Mountain pays tribute to Judith Wright.  Chris Colderley asks us in Tambourine Things to hold a found fossil in our hands, listening and watch the shadows fall as the sun sets.

In the final part, Thank You, the three contemporary poets write poems regarding those poets who affected them in a deeply personal manner.

A poem can sometimes be so powerful that it might even feel as though the poet is speaking directly to us, as if we are in the middle of a private conversation.

They showcase Gwendolyn Brooks, Sandra Cisneros, William Carlos Williams, Okot p'Bitek, Chief Dan George, Rumi and Maya Angelou.  These poems do indeed beckon but they wrap themselves around you in the glory of the words.  You cannot help but feel the love as each poet's life story is revealed.


This collection of poems written by Kwame Alexander, Marjory Wentworth and Chris Colderley not only pays homage to twenty poets but introduces readers to the particular voice of these three poets.  After reading several of their poems you sense the similarity in how they approach the poet they are showcasing.  No matter which poem you are reading, whether written by Alexander, Wentworth or Colderley, you will find yourself without conscious thought sighing or gasping as you read the last line.  They are all brilliant.  I will share a portion of a poem written by each one.

From Walter, Age Ten
celebrating Walter Dean Myers

I'd like to soar one day
like Sweetwater Clifton high above the rim---
I wanna trot the globe
grab the world in my hands and
twirl a big ball of hope
from corner to corner.  ...
     Kwame Alexander

In Every Season
celebrating Robert Frost
... I have stopped to shake the dry snow
from the branches and watched the outline

of each bare tree sharpen like stone
and considered that quite often

life is too much like a pathless wood.
Still I have lived so long and traveled so far,

and I have climbed these hills and looked
at the world and descended.
    Marjory Wentworth

Snapshots
celebrating Nikki Giovanni

people forget...poetry is not just words on a page...it is...
a snowflake on your tongue...a tattoo on the inside of your arm...a dashiki and a kaftan...
tripping down the streets of Lincoln Heights...shouting from the hills of Knoxville, Tennessee...
    Chris Colderley


The warmth of the color palette and design radiates from the front of the matching dust jacket and book case.  The figure, arms raised and fingers spread, is moving to an unseen music, the poems we have yet to read.  On the back, to the left, on a golden background with hints again of musical notes, a list of the twenty poets is shown.  The deep purple of the title words is spread across the opening and closing endpapers.  The poets being celebrated are royalty in the world of literature.  Portions of geometric golden suns are displayed on the title page.  This design is used throughout the book as accents and for each of the three parts.

The artistic technique for creating these illustrations, collage on paper, used by Ekua Holmes presents readers with unique portrayals spreading across two pages, framed on a single page, as insets on a single page or edge to edge on a single page.  Vibrant colors are woven into each one.  Various papers give a texture to each visual, inviting readers to touch the pages.  Holmes varies her perspective in keeping with the poems.

With each page turn it's as if you are walking through an art gallery.  Elements in the illustrations reference the poet and the place in which the poem is set.  As soon as you finish, you will flip the pages to see all the pictures again.  They are striking...every single one.

One of my many favorite illustrations is the two-page spread for Snapshots.  Page edge to page edge a cool shade of green (teal?) provides a canvas for large snowflake designs.  Small white dots are blended with them.  Some of the snowflakes are in the foreground, some in the background.  On the left a boy wrapped in winter clothing is leaning back tasting the flakes with his tongue.  Opposite him on the right a girl is doing the same thing.  All we see is her face peeking out of a hooded coat.  Red, a darker shade of green and a golden yellow are chosen for their clothing.


Every bookshelf needs to hold a space for one or more copies of Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets written by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth with illustrations by Ekua Holmes.  In a word this title is stunning.  Prior to Kwame Alexander's Preface is a Contents.  At the conclusion of the book six pages are dedicated to giving readers more information about the twenty selected poets.  They are also listed by Ancient And Foreign-Language Poets, Nineteenth-Century Poets, Twentieth-Century Poets and Contemporary Poets.  Short biographical paragraphs are included for Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth.

To acquaint you further with Kwame Alexander, Marjory Wentworth and Ekua Holmes please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites. NPR Morning Edition features this title in an interview with Kwame Alexander.  Marjory Wentworth is highlighted at knowitall.org   The Horn Book podcast 2.8 has Ekua Holmes as a guest.  Ekua Holmes visits The Brown Bookshelf for an interview.  At Penguin Random House you can view the first ten pages.  Candlewick Press has created a teacher's guide. Teacher librarian Jennifer Reed wrote a blog post at Reederama about using this title in her school library.
Collage Artist | Ekua Holmes Video from AugustineMonica Films on Vimeo.

A Parade Of Poetry

It's hard to believe the 20th anniversary celebration of National Poetry Month has nearly come to a close.  It's been twenty-nine days of showcasing poetry, reading and writing poems, creating spine poetry thanks to promoter teacher librarian Travis Jonker, blogger at 100 Scope Notes, and the true-blue fun of Poem in Your Pocket Day.  Although any day of the year is a great day for poetry, this month's focus wins more readers and writers to this literary form.

It's a time to direct attention to beloved favorite poems, classic collections and spotlight wonderful new titles. On March 8, 2016 three books were released.  The first of these, Wet Cement: A Mix Of Concrete Poems (Roaring Brook Press) is written by Bob Raczka.

In the introduction Raczka explains concrete poetry to readers with an emphasis on using words to literally paint a picture on a page.  The words in a concrete poem form the item being described in the poem.  In this collection he takes it further by using the letters in the poem's title to depict that word.

Twenty-one poems, shown in black on white and white on black, help us to soar if only for twelve seconds, play games, search the night skies and peer into our closets. We pause at the baseball diamond, run after tiny creatures of the night and marvel at the miracle of our planet in the cosmos.  We enjoy the best of two seasons, gasp at a summer storm's display and let a possession sail the air waves.

Bob Raczka asks us to vary our pattern of reading.  We find ourselves not only reading left to right but in a circle, bottom to top, connecting words as if in a puzzle, around curves, holding the pages in front of a mirror, right to left and sideways and following a maze.  The poems' titles, as well as the poem itself, are placed to coordinate a complete image.  Here is a sample poem with a title.

For younger readers and those young at heart Guess Who, Haiku (Abrams Appleseed) with words by Deanna Caswell and pictures by Bob Shea is a lively look at the ancient Japanese poetic technique. Using the five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables format for three lines of poetry, readers are invited to guess the animal being described.  Ten poems playfully portray creatures of all sizes.

Here's a haiku just for you!

new day on the farm
muffled mooing announces
a fresh pail of milk

Can you guess who from this haiku?

With a page turn we discover the answer in two words.  For the next poem the previous animal sends out the request for us to use our thinking skills.  This pattern continues until the final poem.

With this repetitive sequence Deanna Caswell supplies a pleasing, beckoning rhythm.  In an author's note at the back she defines a portion of the word haiku as an explanation for her particular poems.  She cheerfully requests readers to try reading the lines of the poems with one of the lines removed, asking us how or if this will change the results.


Using a palette of pastel colors with bright accents, Bob Shea's images charmingly enhance this gathering of haiku fun. Portions of some of the animals appear on the front book case.  On the opening and closing endpapers small circular hues feature black drawings of nine of the animals in a repeating design.

The text for each haiku poem is displayed in a different colored font on white with a pictorial clue pictured below.  With a page turn Shea has placed the animal on a vivid canvas usually including something from the clues in this illustration.  You can't help but smile at these pictures.



In their third collaboration (Step Gently Out and Sweep Up the Sun) poet Helen Frost and photographer, painter and illustrator Rick Lieder explore another marvelous aspect of our natural world. Among a Thousand Fireflies (Candlewick Press) takes us to an evening when two beetles seek to find each other.  The combination of these two artists' talents creates a breathtaking illuminating view.

In a summer meadow
near the river,
as night's first stars
blink on,
a firefly
steps
into a flower.

She waits and watches surrounded by more lights blinking on and off than would be possible to count.  She is searching for one particular cadence, a secret code.  It hardly seems possible she will find it.  But she does.

She answers with her own series of glowing beats, matching what she has seen.  She seeks acknowledgment.  He approaches.

Helen Frost with word choices and punctuation replicates the flashing of fireflies with her phrases.  If you read the text aloud, it's almost as if you are seated outside on a balmy summer's night, watching these tiny creatures work their mating magic.  You hardly dare breathe for the beauty her words carry.


When you open the dust jacket two photographs, on the back across the spine to the front, blend to become a single moment.  So exquisite is the detail and lighting you wonder how many pictures were taken to capture these exact visuals. A single shade of blue covers the book case.  On the front a pair of fireflies is embossed in the center.  On the opening and closing endpapers two more photographs reveal the intricacies of these delicate beings.

You will find yourself gasping at the splendor seen on every new page.  Rick Lieder varies his perspectives bringing us close to the fireflies and then stepping back to show us how they move and light the night.  The style of softening the background leaving only certain portions highly focused is a highly sensory experience for readers.



These three titles, representative of three distinctive types of poetry, Wet Cement: A Mix Of Concrete Poems written by Bob Raczka, Guess Who, Haiku written by Deanna Caswell with illustrations by Bob Shea and Among a Thousand Fireflies written by Helen Frost with photographs by Rick Lieder have one thing in common.  They are all brilliant.  I highly recommend adding them to your personal and professional collections.  Pause on every page.  Read them aloud.  Repeatedly.

To learn more about Bob Raczka, Bob Shea, Helen Frost and Rick Lieder please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  At the Candlewick Press website you can view an interior image from Among a Thousand Fireflies.  Enjoy the book trailer.

From The Confines Of A Square

National Poetry Month 2014 has come and gone but as far as I'm concerned poetry should be celebrated every month of the year.  With its multiple forms it can characterize a moment, a person, a thing or a place better than anything else.  Some of the most enjoyable poetry is written for children.  All you have to do is look at the shelves in a school library at any time of the year to realize the popularity of poetic works.

Poets who create for children of any age have a unique gift, the ability to get to the spirit of their subject.  They see the world through the eyes of their intended audience.  Outside the Box: A Book of Poems (Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division) written by Karma Wilson with illustrations by Diane Goode is a collection sure to appeal to any reader but especially to those who enjoy looking at life through the lens of laughter, thoughtfulness and absurdity.

Welcome!
Welcome to my humble book.
Turn a page and take a look.
I hope you choose to stay awhile,
read a poem, relax, and smile.

But if you find this book a bore,
can't stand to read it anymore,
and tell the world my book is lame,
do me a favor?  Forget my name.

With an introductory poem like that (pictured as a note taped to the first page), readers will be hard-pressed not to accept the invitational challenge of turning the next page.  On the following two pages a poem named for the title explains the premise for the book.  If you weren't hooked before, you will be now.

Although there are no titled chapter headings, two page illustrations provide eight divisions between the poems. Enlarging lies, being sick on the wrong day of the week, the perils of poetry writing, finding a too-cozy spot to hide and those pesky songs on re-run in your head make for unexpected endings.  A brother would exclude a sister in his winnings but a sister gets her revenge in a bubble blowing exhibition.

Who knew the boogie man likes to boogie?  If an imaginary friend speaks wrongly about you, does that make them your fantastical foe?  Are stolen kisses really yucky?  Will you look at the moon the same way tonight or the sun at the break of day?

Heed the Please Don't Feed the Bears words of wisdom.  Watch out for feisty insects.  Take lessons from the clever sheep.  Keep your eyes open for animals unknown...yet.

You'll burst out laughing at a birthday wish gone wrong and the last best gift of Christmas.  You'll shiver and shake the next time you go trick-or-treating, if you ever go again.  You'll knowingly nod at the tale told by the rider of The Great Gargantuan.  When all is read and done, at the close of the day and the book, you'll realize a grin has been growing.


These poems penned by Karma Wilson are a rocking and rolling riot of fun.  They reel you in with their rhythm and rhyme from the first line to the last.  In Wilson's hands words take on a life of their own, casting spells no matter the length of the poem.   She looks at both sides of her characters, animals and topics; the good and not so good are acknowledged with her wit and wisdom.  Here is a sample passage from the poem titled The Dream Weaver.

...  Embroidering visions, enriching our nights,
dreams full of magical, mythical sights.
Frightful, wistful, charming, and bleak...
each dream, like a snowflake, unique.  ...


Caldecott Honor medalist (When I Was Young in the Mountains) Diane Goode brings her considerable skills and signature artwork using brush and pen and ink to enhance and extend this poetic collection.  Done entirely in black and white in a variety of sizes and perspectives, an air of the fantastic permeates the pages.  Her lines, heavy or fine, solid or shaded, tell their own stories; a personality quirk, a mood, an emotion or a particular scene.

On several of her two-page illustrations she adheres to the theme of outside the box having elements from the poems gathered around an open box.  She might switch it up changing the type of box or leave the box out entirely as when she has an airplane in the clouds pulling two skiers, tow ropes extended from the wings.  There is a definite sense of humor underlying many of her pictures; the same sister is used in two separate poems and the playbill highlighting Shakespeare shows him with a "Pinocchio" nose.  Several poems become shaped or reader's need to turn the book sideways to read them vertically.

A favorite illustration is for the poem, The Problem with Baking Cookies.  Two older brothers are arguing, then fighting, about who is going to get to lick the spoon, baking implements in the air.  Calmly off to the side, sitting on the floor, is a toddler...licking the spoon.  There is no mention of the third child in the poem; it's artistic wonderfulness from Goode.

I can't imagine having a bookshelf without this title, Outside the Box: A Book of Poems written by Karma Wilson with illustrations by Diane Goode, being a part of the collection.  Karma Wilson dedicates this volume to wordsmith Shel S.  I know it will fly off the shelves into the hands of eager readers for years to come just as his books continue to do.  Plan on having extra copies on hand.

If you follow the links embedded in Karma Wilson's name and Diane Goode's names you will be able to access their websites.  The second link to Goode's website shows the process for illustrating this book.  It was an immense task but worth it for the truly wonderful results.

Seasons Of Poetic Bliss

Every living thing notices the changes each season brings.  Careful human observers can pretty much rely on the signals sent by birds, insects, creatures inhabiting yards, fields and forests, trees, flowers and weeds.  They know much more long before we do; perfectly in tune with their world.

Poets take the time to pause, to record, these subtle shifts.  They capture moments with words like a photographer does with a camera.  Author Paul B. Janeczko has selected thirty-six sterling examples in Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems (Candlewick Press, March 11, 2014) with illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner, Melissa Sweet.

The work of thirty-two prominent poets spanning decades is divided into four sections; spring, summer, fall and winter with eight to ten poems in each.  A single poem introduces the transformation from one to the other.  The volume begins with spring.

Daybreak reminds us---
the hills have arrived just in
time to celebrate
                  ---Cid Corman

Rain, a blossoming flower, a vividly-colored wheelbarrow, a contrasting chicken, a stone resembling an animal giant acting as a pathway for birches, and a hearse for dead floor fans depict tiny portions of life awakening from winter's slumber.  A water lily and a water bird color the landscape with their particular sights and sounds.  Travelers gaze outward from the windows of a speeding train as the night flashes by in segments.

Daisies and buttercups declare the advent of summer as a furry beast roams among their stems. A crowded subway, a union of rain and dust, flashing stars skimming the night yard and spindly-legged critters making patterns on a beach take us to places and points we might otherwise miss.  Stored treasures emit odors of days long past.  What are the sun, moon and stars? Flowers?  Faces?

Wild wind, rain and falling leaves boldly broadcast autumn.  Misty mornings, dying slender stalks, crunching and bareness stretch across the wild and populated areas.  There are no moons like those moons shining in the months of September, October and November.

A truck like the surrounding vista is ready for rest; winter is coming.  As a prelude to snow the fog forms in and around city structures.  Fence lines lead and slice.  And the moonlit nights usher in much-needed sleep.


Only a master of poetry could glean such expressive beauty from the vast array of verses found in human literature.  Paul B. Janeczko has never been more skillful in his choices than in this collection.  What each poem brings to the reader's mind's eye are brief seconds, here and gone in a flash, but remembered always in the written word.


The illustration on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case is so full of life it breathes.  The layout and design on this, on all the pictures, are exquisite.  Each conveys the essence of the text presented.

Using watercolor, gouache and mixed media Melissa Sweet alternates between single page and double page pictures one flowing into the other, colorful hues blending.  Delicate flower petals, panoramic sea scenes, bulging frog eyes following a fly, striped boots stomping through mud, a party of insects among fall weeds, and squirrels nestled in a wintertime nest are all made with infinite care.  Each visual radiates refreshing warmth.

For the signature poem, Firefly July, a jar filled with fireflies is superimposed over children and their dog on a summer's night outside.  Their home and yard are sketched in the background.  It's stunning.


It's no wonder this book has received five starred reviews, The Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and School Library Journal. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko with illustrations by Melissa Sweet is a poetry book everyone should own and share with others.  It's destined to be a classic.  It will definitely be among those titles listed in my Mock Caldecott for 2015.

To learn more about Paul B. Janeczko and Melissa Sweet please follow the links embedded in their names to their official websites.  Make sure to visit this interview at Book Page.

Thanksgiving Treasures-Tradition #3

For the Thanksgiving post for the past two years, I've featured titles to commemorate and celebrate this holiday; Thanksgiving Treasures-Tradition and Thanksgiving Treasures-Tradition #2 highlight four favorites of mine.  It is important to not only set aside a single day for the giving of thanks but to appreciate and recognize small memorable and positive moments all year long.  They are there every single day if we only take the time to pause, listen and look.

In 1844 Lydia Maria Child published a poem, The New-England Boy's Song About Thanksgiving Day in a collection titled Flowers for Children, Volume 2.  Since that time it has achieved classic status as a seasonal song.  In 2011 author illustrator Matt Tavares illustrated the beloved verses with his rich, period paintings in Over the River and Through the Wood (Candlewick Press).



Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way,
To carry the sleigh,
Through the white and drifted snow.

The opened matching jacket and cover feature a peaceful pastoral scene, from the edge of one flap to the other, of a family leaving their town to climb the hills to grandfather's house.  On the title pages Matt Tavares gives readers a panoramic, aerial view of the community, winding river and hills in the background, with the family tucked in the lower left-hand corner next to their sleigh getting ready for their trip.  For the first five lines of the poem he provides a close-up of the parents, their two children, and dog about to depart.

For every five lines of the poem Tavares' illustrations rendered in watercolor, gouache and pencil spread across two pages.  While the color of the sky, people bundled in winter clothing and fallen and falling snow, leave no doubt as to the chilly temperatures, there is warmth in every picture.  The colors used in the clothing, buildings and the sleigh coupled with the facial expressions on the people reflect the remembered joys of this day.

The joy of passing by a store window filled with toys, crossing an arched stone bridge, watching the people skating on the river below, climbing up one hill after another, passing through the gate around the barnyard, arriving at grandfather's home and enjoying a meal together, are all depicted in varying perspectives designed to make the reader feel like a participant rather than only an observer.  Attentive readers will notice Tavares has also chosen to add another story to the trip through his illustrations; a special canine connection.  Any one of these gorgeous pictures is worthy of framing but one of my favorites is of the family's arrival at the farm, the home and barn in the background, the dog running ahead, the boy leaning forward in the sleigh expectantly, as snow falls.  You can almost hear the bark of the dogs, called greetings, baaing of sheep and the slide of runners on the snow when you look at this illustration.

Over the River and Through the Wood written by Lydia Maria Child with illustrations by Matt Tavares is a lovely seasonal offering for readers of all ages.  There is a note about the author at the book's end.  Please follow the links embedded in Matt Tavares' name to access his website and blog. The videos below are to acquaint you with the true joy Matt Tavares feels for his work.













I have seen tweets repeatedly which mirror my own feelings about reading books once you have heard an author or illustrator speak; from that point forward when you read their work you hear them talking to you.  After listening to Katherine Paterson's speech at the American Library Association, Association for Library Service to Children, Newbery, Caldecott, Wilder Awards Banquet and conversing with her briefly in the reception line, I hear her gentle, knowing voice in my mind when I read her books.  Her most recent title, as an author and editor, Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers And Praise Songs Of Thanksgiving (Handprint Books, an imprint of Chronicle Books) with illustrations by Pamela Dalton is the ideal platform for what I believe to be the soul of her body of work.

As way of introduction Katherine Paterson begins with a two page reflection on joy, gratitude and prayer.  She recounts all the blessings in her life from the good and bad times alike, as each has lessons from which we can learn. For each of the following sections in this book, she begins with a single page of her own words on the theme.

In Gather Around the Table Paterson voices her gratitude for having plenty of food to eat, recounting her own and another's story.  Within the eight pages we can read a traditional American mealtime prayer, an Islamic prayer, a Chinese proverb, a Native American grace, words of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson or a Pueblo blessing.  It is apparent that no matter the culture or custom, giving thanks for food to eat is universal for its nourishment, for sustaining our bodies.

A few shared hours with her son David watching a cicada, opens the chapter A Celebration of Life.  This is my favorite of the four.  Her descriptions, choice of words, transport you to those marvelous moments.  Poems penned from authors around the world are found here as are prayers from a variety of cultures.  Some are familiar, others are new, but all bring a sense of peace to the reader; twelve pages of beauty.

A thoughtful musing on the poor in spirit begins the writings titled The Spirit Within.  I think of all those contained in these six pages my favorite might be by Helen Keller.

The best and most beautiful things in
the world cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.

Then too, it's hard not to be moved by the words, the song, written by John Newton,

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound...

Katherine Paterson closes the book with thoughts on all the many places she has lived and visited around the world and the importance of understanding.  It addresses our misplaced beliefs.  The selections in the Circle of Community are about noticing the similarities we share.  They are about the importance of each individual.


The exquisite, intricate cut-paper illustrations by Pamela Dalton done in the early American tradition are nearly beyond description. A note at the back briefly describes the technique.

The paper was then antiqued in a coffee solution, ironed, and illuminated with watercolor.

The rustic red seen on the jacket and cover is deepened to provide a background for the opening and closing endpapers.  On the endpapers the cut-paper artwork creates a wide frame for tiny oval watercolor paintings which also appear throughout the book.

Different colored backgrounds are used for each area of the book; a golden tan, deep earthy green, a steely blue and the rustic red of the jacket and cover.  These hues supply the left-hand side of each page with a wide margin for highlighting the illustrations.  Other cut-paper pictures are placed within the pages, shades of cream on cream.  The painstaking hours of work for each is easily apparent, causing you to pause on each page wondering.  My favorite is the last page in the A Celebration of Life chapter.  Green, yellow and gray-brown cut-paper birch tree branches frame a square containing an E. E. Cummings verse with a black-capped chickadee sitting on a branch.

Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, And Praise Songs Of Thanksgiving edited and with reflections by Katherine Paterson with illustrations by Pamela Dalton is as breathtaking as their first collaboration, Brother Sun, Sister Moon. I highly recommend it for your personal and classroom collections due to the diversity of choices within the pages.  It makes you stop, take note and be grateful.  It can be the basis of a variety of discussions and writing prompts with your students.

Please take time to visit the author's and illustrator's websites by following the links embedded in their names.  I could not resist sharing this video of Katherine Paterson and her husband John talking about the importance of picture books.

 

Giving Thanks

I am extremely grateful for these authors and illustrators not only on this Thanksgiving day but every day.  They have brought immeasurable joy to all their readers.

To Be And Learn

Since most of us lack the capacity to morph from one form into another, understanding other people, other animals, tends to be difficult or complicated at the very least.  Yet, we believe knowledge is key to creating empathy.  How can we eliminate fear or distrust without it?

Reading is how we build this bridge; reading closes gaps in our awareness.  We read well-researched nonfiction titles by authors who are experts in a particular subject area or who have consulted with those who are indeed professionals in their field.  We also read books like Eat Like A Bear (Henry Holt and Company) by April Pulley Sayre with illustrations by Caldecott Honor winner, Steve Jenkins. This is how we learn to enlarge our world beyond ourselves.  We become the bear.

Can you eat like a bear?
Awake in April. Find food.
But where?

After being asleep four months, having lost one-third of our weight, it's easy to understand the hunger.  First though, our thirst must be quenched; a pond, a stream or nearby river might do.  With long claws for digging, snow disappears into dirt to reveal shoots of water-loving flora or the remains of another animal who did not survive the winter.

In each of the seven months until we sleep again, our lives revolve around our ability to find something to eat.  We use our nose to smell delectable delicacies, fresh green plants or a pile of ants. If we're up to speed we might run down a stray young elk or later grazing, another bear.  Taking a bath is another opportunity to catch a fresh feast.

We dig and dig and dig some more, discovering appetizers or a midday meal.  We climb heights of broken rocks to capture groups of moths at rest.  Soon it's time to collect the harvest of fruits nature provides.

We dig and dig and dig yet again to uncover what other animals have stored.  We search and seek to find a place to sleep; a place to protect us from the winter winds and snow.  It could be we'll need room for more than ourselves; mid-winter might bring surprises.


When you mesh a childhood embracing the out-of-doors, nurturing a love of nature, with an education in biology and writing, an author such as April Pulley Sayre may appear to the benefit of her many readers.  This June when attending the American Library Association Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, in the midst of crossing the large hallway from the exhibits to the information area, I glanced at the name tag worn by a woman passing by me.  It read April Pulley Sayre.

There among all the hustle and bustle we chatted about her books.  She said she was very pleased with Eat Like A Bear.  Now, having read it multiple times, I can understand why.

Guiding us through the months spent after and before hibernation, after seeking information from those working directly with bears, she gives us the ability to walk beside a single bear.  Her poetic, rhythmic prose full of activity, encourages us to follow.  Use of recurring phrases, sometimes altering a single word, generate an easy flow.  Here is an examples.

Drink like a bear---from a stream.
Leaping trout? None about.
Bushes? Bare. No berries there. ...

Using cut-and torn-paper collage Steve Jenkins' illustrations welcome readers into the bear's life.  For this volume the bears are made with Amate, a handmade Mexican bark paper created from the bark of ficus (fig) trees.  As soon as readers see the front and back jacket and cover, they'll want to touch them. (The ants on the front cover shimmer like the tiny bodies do in the wild.)

Definitely a master of this medium, Jenkins' use of paper is astonishing in his ability to convey the intricate life-like details of each element in the pictures.  His perspectives, a close-up of the bear's head, side view, another two pages zooming in on a dandelion plant with the bear smaller in the background, two bears meeting nose-to-nose, a partial side view of their heads or the bear, neck stretched to taste huckleberries, looking from the bottom upward, will have readers believing they are participants in these monthly adventures.  My favorite illustration is of the bear seated in the meadow with the dandelions.


Author April Pulley Sayre and illustrator Steve Jenkins, have collaborated, as they did in Vulture View, to conceive an intriguing portrayal of one of nature's most commanding members in Eat Like A Bear.  This title is the whole package, a gift in words and pictures, informing and creating a link to another part of the chain we call life.  Thank you April Pulley Sayre and Steve Jenkins for this book.

To view more pages from the book follow this link to the publisher's website.  To learn more about the author and illustrator follow the links embedded in their names within this post.

Under The Spell

What compels people to read fairy tales?  What brings us back to them again and again?  What makes us search out new variations?

 In response to a question Albert Einstein stated If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales.  If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.  C. S. Lewis thought sometimes fairy stories say best what needs to be said. One of my favorite phrases, attributed to G. K. Chesterton, though is Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.

No matter the age of the reader or listener, fairy tales fulfill a need deep within for the connection provided by storytelling with beginnings in the oral tradition.  They provide potent possibilities for digging deeper into the personalities of the characters, changing point of view, and expanding or altering the narrative itself.  Authors Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich explore these ideas in Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist (WordSong, an imprint of Highlights, March 1, 2013) with artwork by Matt Mahurin.

Once
Once, oh once, there was, was not,
A girl, princess, mermaid, widow, witch, queen, wife,
A boy, king, soldier, wizard, troll, giant,
Magic
      Life. ...

With those compelling words Jane Yolen casts a net of magic over readers bringing them into a collection of poetry.  Fifteen fairy tales, two poems for each, one written by Yolen, the other by Dotlich.

A disgruntled fairy bemoans a single kiss as a voice demands the princess to snap out of it and take control, even as they are snacking on sweet treats, Gretel and Hansel know fear and false bravado, and with love strong for the Beast and the boy, musings made in the future wonder about the joys of parenthood.  Would the Gingerbread Boy have left knowing how heartbroken his makers would be?  Not surprisingly, glass slippers are not all they're cracked up to be.

Frazzled by his position the pea speaks out after years of silence.  It's a good thing sticks and stones break bones and not names because the Princess is not kind to the Frog.  It's about time Goldilocks writes an apology letter but she still is clueless about the real homeowners. On the closing page, the net still surrounding us, we read in part, Rebecca Kai Dotlich's advice, her wish,

Happily Ever After
Imagine them all
after the plotting, after the ball,
after the spelling, hopping, sweeping,
grumping, grousing, mopping, sleeping,
from small glass shoe to nuisance pea, 
so ever after, all happily be--- ...



Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich using words like pixie dust weave spells over readers stretching our thinking about what we believe we know about these fifteen fairy tales.  A poetic variety, free verse, couplets, cinquain, and haiku, brings us into the rhythm of the realm with and without rhyme.  As individual as the writers themselves, the poems still maintain the essence of each story plus a little more.


A golden doorway beckons readers through the darkened forest, as hints of tales told are tucked among the trees or scattered along the path on the jacket and cover; a frightened Frog Prince thrown and flying is pictured on the back.  Paintings by Matt Mahurin each covering a full two pages add dimension to the poems with shifting shades, light, then dark, then back again to light, mirroring the mood of all.  Altering perspective adds an extra effect to the illustrations; a wintry landscape with roses blooming, Beast embracing Beauty, the side of a face, mouth gaping, Gingerbread Boy balanced precariously on the teeth or the Woodsman's axe prying open the huge wolf's jaws as Red Riding Hood reaches in for her Grandmother.

Details further define the views of the voices; a broken bed, the two pieces on opposite pages of Sleeping Beauty's tale, the sly, grotesque features on the Witch's face as she stirs the pot in contrast to the innocent wholesomeness of Hansel and Gretel as they reach for the candies and one of the Bear's lifting a sleeping mask from Goldilocks face revealing an open eye.  The layout, placement of the poems, does not distract, being framed by the visuals inviting, always inviting, the reader.  One of my favorites is for Rumpelstiltskin.  A darkened background highlights his cunning face and upper body as straw from his outstretched left hand arcs over his head changing to gold coins piling into his right hand.  Directly above his head and the arc is a sleeping infant.


Grumbles from the Forest: Fairy-Tale Voices with a Twist written by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich with illustrations by Matt Mahurin not only opens new doors into familiar stories but challenges readers to always look beyond the known. As an introduction to fairy tales or a reminder of the opportunities they present, this collection of poems is a welcome chorus.  Having read these over and over, silently and aloud, their magic is of the kind that lingers.

Between the last set of poems and concluding poem, two pages list the fifteen fairy tales adding a few sentences about their origin and basic storyline along with several websites with more information.  As part of the title verso which poems written by each author are designated. Please follow the links to the websites for the authors and illustrator embedded in their names above.  

Shhhh...It's Their Turn Now

Among all the books published in a given year, some books stand out in their particular area.  They become one of those volumes which should be on every book lover's shelf.  Now, on the last day of National Poetry Month 2013 and on the second day of Screen-Free Week 2013, is the perfect time to highlight a title not previously given focus on this blog.









This title is one of the 2011 Nerdies Book Award winners in the poetry category.  It won the 2012 Cybils Award for Poetry.  Written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, BookSpeak! Poems About Books (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, October 2011) is a jaunty journey into the realm of What If.



Calling All Readers
I'll tell you a story.
I'll spin you a rhyme.
I'll spill some ideas---
and we'll travel through time. ...

The introductory stanza from the first poem is a call to the heart of all of us; we crave stories.  It goes on to tell us to leave our television sets and computers, taking time to make friends with a book.

Within the covers of this book twenty-one poems allow volumes to have their say.  Not only do the books themselves speak, but the parts of books want to be given equal time too.  Readers are asked to think about books in ways they may not have considered previously.

Can flocks of blackbirds be words of a story?  If a book is not read, what happens to the words inside the covers?  Do characters feel as if they are imprisoned?

There are books holding secrets; a person's life page by page.  There are well-loved books and perfect books never held by sticky fingers.  There are books not yet written which we deeply desire; a sequel can not come fast enough.

The times late at night when you want to finish a book, fighting sleep but loose the battle are pretty tough on the book whose pages become your pillow.  It's understood but nevertheless stated, books abhor...water.  Readers realize books enjoy vacations just as much as the people themselves (maybe even more).

We get the inside scoop, the absolute truth, from the index.  We are told exactly what to do with a dish that is not a dish.  And we discover the real definition of The End.


 Laura Purdie Salas answers questions readers didn't know they had in a clever, conversational tone of voice.  Different poetic styles, rhyming, free verse and acrostic, create a flow that's fun to follow, moving easily from page to page.  Salas knows which words are right, the exact amount of lines necessary, and where breaks should be placed to send an invitation to the reader, encouraging participation in her lighthearted look at the world of books.  One of my favorite poems is The Middle's Lament: A Poem for Three Voices.  The conversation between The Middle, The Beginning and The End is funny with a capital F.


Readers know with a first look at the jacket and cover of this title, they're in for a rare visual adventure.  Rendered using mixed media, Josee Bisaillon's illustrations are fanciful and fascinating.  On the title page an organ grinder's monkey is riding a tricycle pulling a wagon loaded with books, the side featuring the publisher information.  Above in the trail of a bee's flight the author's and illustrator's names wave across the page.  Dedications are signs pulled through the air by planes.

With a color palette as varied as the poems themselves, patterns and textures, objects, animals (real or imagined) and people doing amazing things, readers find themselves in the completely unique world wrought by the capable hands of Bisaillon.  Inkblots become blackbirds, a book unlocked by a special key, opens, casting a light filled with brilliant butterflies, and rain falls on an umbrella with flowers growing on top.  What we can only dream, she places on the pages for all to see.


Whether read silently or better still, aloud, BookSpeak: Poems About Books written by Laura Purdie Salas with illustrations by Josee Bisaillon, will leave readers marveling and thinking about the endless possibilities found and because of books.  By following the link embedded in Josee Bisaillon's name to her website, you can see more illustrations from this title.  At Laura Purdie Salas' website (linked to her name) she has a reading guide, activity sheets and several videos of her reading poems from this book.




I think it would be great fun to read Lights Out At The Bookstore, the third to the last poem in the book, either before or after this video, a favorite of mine.

Five-Seven-Five

It can be seen on billboards along the roads and highways.  It can be scripted in the sky by an airplane.  It can be printed on a note tucked into a brown-paper-bag lunch.  It can be whispered to you when you least expect it; a hand squeeze, a stolen glance or the wet-lick kiss of a dog say it too.  There are more ways than can be counted or remembered for conveying affection.

Dating back to the end of the nineteenth century, consisting of only seventeen syllables, the poetic form haiku can express varied but specific meanings with a few carefully chosen words.  Author/illustrator Betsy Snyder's I Haiku You (Random House Children's Books, December 2012) is an uplifting celebration of all kinds of love as seen through the eyes of children.

No matter the season or time of day these twenty poems will give you a glimpse of the childlike appreciation for the simplest and grandest things encountered.  Recall memorable moments.  Tuck away new ones to notice.

With the young at heart bird song is nature's alarm clock, snow angels bind together buddies and alphabet soup spells pure comfort for someone not feeling well.  Even on a gray day color can be found if you know where to look.  Butterflies will take flight and land on the inside and on the outside.

Four-leaf clovers, bicycles, teddy bears and a purple popsicle (or two) hold special significance.  Budding gardeners in springtime, youthful entrepreneurs on a summer's day or campfire chefs in the crisp fall evenings all cherish these best of times. A canine companion watches a school bus leave feeling one way and on it's return his human shares the upside of that same feeling.


Children have a way of looking at their world and the people in it as if they are cameras missing nothing, noticing the tiniest details.  Betsy Snyder has captured their sense of wonder and observation in each of these poems through her focus on the ordinary elevating it to extraordinary; knowing its all the little things added together which makes a delightful whole.   The language of their everyday world, alarm clock, valentines, rainbow, boo-boos, twinkle and snuggles, welcome readers into these cheerful, concise verses.


 The creamy background on the matching jacket and cover is used throughout the book on paper with a matte finish providing a warmer frame for her charming illustrations. Her opening and closing endpapers are a watercolor wash of the shades of red readers see on every page.  Each picture is as separate as the poems but tied together with the softened, full color palette and the small details.

The cardinal singing on the first page appears in the distance on top of a pine tree on the next page.  A butterfly drawn by a child on one page is shown flying with another on the following page.  A teddy bear being carried in the basket on a bicycle (paws raised to cover its eyes) is covered with band-aids when we readers see him next.

Her round-faced characters are full of animation and expression; delivering joy at every turn of page.  Most of the poems are given a single page with a picture but five have illustrations spread edge to edge across both pages; still inviting, still embracing the reader.  My favorite illustration is on the last two pages.   Two children are in bed under the covers facing toward the foot holding a flashlight reading.  Tiny animal slippers are beside the bed, chocolate chip cookies (and crumbs) are on the bed.  Further out in the room the dog featured in several poems is curled up on his bed with the teddy bear now clad in one-piece red pajamas next to him.  Over the dog's body is an opened copy of I Haiku You.  


Certainly this book is perfect for National Poetry Month or Valentine's Day but I vote to use I Haiku You written and illustrated by Betsy Snyder when we need to step back, pause and appreciate the joys of life; when we want to celebrate children and their love of simple things.

Please follow the links embedded above in Betsy Snyder's names to her website and blog.  Betsy Snyder was showcased in the first trifecta of 2013 at Watch. Connect. Read., sharpread and the Nerdy Book Club.  All the posts give further insights into the creation of this title.  At this link Snyder gives hints on writing haiku for children.  For a more detailed explanation on the writing and illustration process she used follow this link.