Noting that ``the most ordinary things can suddenly seem new and unexpected,'' Esbensen evokes the surprise and wonder in everyday images and objects. A sand dollar contains a delightful secret: ``Who can break a dollar?//What a bargain! Five/white doves/ready to fly to your hand//Sea change!'' In a note, the poet explains that sand dollars have dove-shaped teeth. Other images, like this one in ``Time,'' are vague or misleading: ``Until we invented clocks/we counted the hours/in sunlight/and shadow On cloudy days/everybody came in late or/early Everybody/apologized to/everybody There was/no order in the cave.'' Some metaphors intended to enhance the sense of wonder may merely confuse: in ``Pencils,'' the question ``Who/gives them their/lunch?'' puzzles rather than clarifies by muddling the pencil itself with the thoughts of the person who wields it. Beddows's softly rendered illustrations evoke each image with care, sometimes gently elaborating but more often remaining unnecessarily literal. But despite its flaws, the book as a whole does captures a child's imaginative response to the commonplace. A useful springboard for young writers and poets. (Poetry. 8-12)
Pub Date: April 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-021827-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1992
Donavan's friends collect buttons and marbles, but he collects words. ``NUTRITION,'' ``BALLYHOO,'' ``ABRACADABRA''—these and other words are safely stored on slips of paper in a jar. As it fills, Donavan sees a storage problem developing and, after soliciting advice from his teacher and family, solves it himself: Visiting his grandma at a senior citizens' apartment house, he settles a tenants' argument by pulling the word ``COMPROMISE'' from his jar and, feeling ``as if the sun had come out inside him,'' discovers the satisfaction of giving his words away. Appealingly detailed b&w illustrations depict Donavan and his grandma as African-Americans. This Baltimore librarian's first book is sure to whet readers' appetites for words, and may even start them on their own savory collections. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: June 30, 1994
ISBN: 0-06-020190-8
Page Count: 72
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating...
Nicholas is a bright boy who likes to make trouble at school, creatively.
When he decides to torment his fifth-grade English teacher, Mrs. Granger (who is just as smart as he is), by getting everyone in the class to replace the word "pen'' with "frindle,'' he unleashes a series of events that rapidly spins out of control. If there's any justice in the world, Clements (Temple Cat, 1995, etc.) may have something of a classic on his hands. By turns amusing and adroit, this first novel is also utterly satisfying. The chess-like sparring between the gifted Nicholas and his crafty teacher is enthralling, while Mrs. Granger is that rarest of the breed: a teacher the children fear and complain about for the school year, and love and respect forever after.
With comically realistic black-and-white illustrations by Selznick (The Robot King, 1995, etc.), this is a captivating tale—one to press upon children, and one they'll be passing among themselves. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-689-80669-8
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1996
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
