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COME AND PLAY

Name: COME AND PLAY
Author: Ayana Lowe
ISBN: 978-1-59990-245-6

CHILDREN OF OUR WORLD HAVING FUN

edited by Ayana Lowe & photographed by Magnum Photo Agency ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2008

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This album pairs 29 photographs drawn from the Magnum archives with free-verse reactions collected from (anonymous) children by the editor, a New York City teacher. The pictures capture young people in many parts of the world displaying a range of emotions and expressions as they engage in games and dances, hang out together or generally horse around in a variety of settings. Though most of the photos are in arty black and white, they all radiate a playful tone that even very young viewers will pick up. The accompanying comments are plainspoken and, usually, thoughtful: “Fun is a motion. / Something that you really like. / Trying to fly, you feel a tingling / sensation inside of you. / Yippee!” The buoyant tone is infectious, and the format invites children to contribute observations of their own. (map, photo notes, editor’s note) (Picture book poetry. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-1-59990-245-6

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

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FAIRIES, TROLLS AND GOBLINS GALORE

edited by Dilys Evans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2000

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Wee folk star in a book of prankish poetry that celebrates the mischief and mere presence of inch-high magical and supernatural creatures. An illustrated table of contents introduces 17 poems and defines the fairy folk featured within. A leshy can be small as a blade of grass, a pixie wears green and changes size, a hobgoblin is fond of practical jokes, a spriggan is something of a bodyguard for fairies. Familiar and unknown poems are collected here, from classics such as Rachel Field’s “The Pointed People,” to contemporary entries by Kristine O’Connell George and Evans herself. The tone of the whole varies from page to page, as the more flowery, rhyming verse coexists with catchier entries such as “A Gnome Poem,” containing images of a gnome snuggled under a New Jersey map and on a mousepad or a stowaway troll in “Backpack Trouble.” Green, leafy artwork surrounds these magical folk in airy and woodsy settings, casting them as playful, curious, and cuddly. (Picture book/poetry. 5-8)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-689-82352-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
WEIRD PET POEMS
edited by Dilys Evans & illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

- BOOK REVIEW
MONSTER SOUP
edited by Dilys Evans & illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers

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WHO BOP?

by Jonathan London ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 29, 2000

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PLB 0-06-027918-4 In a tongue-tangling word-romp, London (Hip Cat, 1993, etc.) invites children to “jump right in, to swirl and spin” with the animal-attendees of his sock hop. This swinging party features cool cats, whirling rabbits, frolicking dogs, cavorting mice, and springing frogs, all grooving in half-tugged socks. London combines the deeply satisfying sounds of drums and keyboards with the upbeat be-bop of the sax to create a book that, when read out loud (at story hours or anytime), rivals the cadence of rhythm and blues. Working in confident, vivid colors, Cole sets out a playful visual introduction to musical instruments; the scenes are fairly bursting with joyful dancers who are so engaging that joining the hip-hop hoppin’ may be the only way to go. (Picture book. 3-6)