A CITY IS

Name: A CITY IS
Author: Norman Rosten
ISBN: 0-8050-6793-0

POEMS

by Norman Rosten & illustrated by Melanie Hope Greenberg & edited by Patricia Rosten Filan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2004

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Greenberg’s bright, populous Brooklyn and Manhattan street scenes bustle with energy, buoying this undistinguished gathering of posthumously published snippets from poet/playwright Rosten. Written in plain, broken-cadenced language, the choppy poems celebrate city sights, sounds, and seasons, but don’t often rise above the level of: “ . . . the birds sing while taking a bath / in puddles and wet grass. / What fun when it rains!” The art, however, rewards repeat visits, as Greenberg, in characteristic folk-art style, follows a mother and child from their own busy Brooklyn street to South Ferry, Washington Square, Central and other parks, glimpsing along the way fire trucks and fireworks, skyscrapers and subway stations, playgrounds, bridges, and people at work or play. Visually, at least, the finest valentine to New York (or at least, two of its five Boroughs) since Kathy Jacobsen’s My New York (1993). (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)

Pub Date: April 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-8050-6793-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

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POCKET POEMS

edited by Bobbi Katz & illustrated by Marylin Hafner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2004

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With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-525-47172-3

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
NOTHING BUT A DOG
by Bobbi Katz and illustrated by Jane Manning

- BOOK REVIEW
MORE POCKET POEMS
by Bobbi Katz & illustrated by Deborah Zemke

- BOOK REVIEW
ONCE AROUND THE SUN
by Bobbi Katz & illustrated by LeUyen Pham

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DINOSAURS GALORE!

by Giles Andreae & illustrated by David Wojtowycz ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2005

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A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)