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VOICES

Name: VOICES
Author: Barbara Brenner
ISBN: 0-7922-7071-1

POETRY AND ART FROM AROUND THE WORLD

edited by Barbara Brenner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2000

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“Our garden / doesn’t spread out very far, it’s a little affair / in which we won’t lose each other. / For you and me it’s enough.” Though hung on a geographical framework, with a section for each inhabited continent, this generous array of short poems, gathered from dozens of countries, covers a universe of topics, as do the accompanying folk- and fine-art illustrations. The selections are mostly free verse, mostly less than a century old, and although the work of many translators, form a harmonious chorus, whether the poet is singing to the sun-as-warrior (“The fearful night sinks / trembling into the depth / before your lightning eye . . .”) or chasing a wind-blown bagel down the street, mourning a lost child, or joyfully exclaiming, “my stomach / shouts with hunger / when I smell / the delicious / tortillas.” The art, too, forms a seamless tapestry, despite diverse visions and styles, so that a lush Diego Rivera scene shares a spread nicely with a riotously colored Aztec bas-relief, a piece of kente cloth with an ancient bust of Nefertiti. The poetry is all reprinted, and there is seldom information about poets or artists beyond country of origin and dates, but this handsome, readable collection outdoes even Kenneth Koch’s and Kate Farrell’s Talking to the Sun (1985) in demonstrating the unity beneath the diversity of human artistic vision. (credits, index) (Poetry/art. 8+)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-7922-7071-1

Page Count: 96

Publisher: National Geographic

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
GOOD MORNING, GARDEN
by Barbara Brenner & illustrated by Denise Ortakales

- BOOK REVIEW
ONE SMALL PLACE IN A TREE
by Barbara Brenner & illustrated by Tom Leonard

- BOOK REVIEW
CHIBI
by Barbara Brenner & Julia Takaya & illustrated by June Otani

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WOMBAT WAITING

by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Jen Bricking ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2026

Affecting and hopeful.

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A stray dog finds her destiny amid the chaos of a Southern California wildfire.

Wombat is a small dog with stubby legs and “silly ears / that look like furry cookies”—almost impossibly cute in Bricking’s occasional pencil-style vignettes. She’s mastered the art of survival, so when a mysterious internal voice prods her to go toward the fire, she resists. “The wrong way is the right way. / The right way is the wrong way,” the voice insists. When she tells fellow stray Silas about it, he tells Wombat she’s a “destiny dog,” bound to “find their person / before their person / can find them.” Convinced, she decides to follow the mysterious instructions. Meanwhile, Henry, a boy who’s leery of dogs, loves the bats at the wildlife rehabilitation center where Mama Ro, a veterinarian, works; his Mama J is a librarian. Henry and Barnabas, a fruit bat at the center, are both uprooted by the fire, and their paths converge with Wombat’s at an emergency shelter. The third-person perspective shifts from character to character in clusters of free-verse poems that fully immerse readers in each one’s experiences in turn. This extra-concentrated delivery of Applegate’s typically spare writing proves effective, balancing terror and sadness with heart and humor. Henry has light brown skin, Mama Ro has curly black hair and brown skin, and Mama J presents white.

Affecting and hopeful. (Verse fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: May 5, 2026

ISBN: 9780063221178

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Storytide/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LITTLEST ELEPHANT
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Lita Judge

- BOOK REVIEW
POCKET BEAR
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Charles Santoso

- BOOK REVIEW
ODDER
by Katherine Applegate ; illustrated by Charles Santoso

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ON THE HORIZON

by Lois Lowry ; illustrated by Kenard Pak ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.

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In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.

When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.

A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)