Entertaining and spirited, though there's nothing subtle about this wily collection of puzzler poems.
Master punster Cleary and illustrator Rowland again join forces (Something Sure Smells Around Here, 2015, etc.) to explore a light poetic form.
Even before the fourth volume in the Poetry Adventures series gets going, Rowland’s cheeky illustration of an island castaway finding a bottle with jumbled letters spelling “acrostics” in it effectively conveys the message-in-a-bottle thematic sense of this poetic form. Much like a whodunit that starts with a body in the library, the acrostic poem makes no bones about revealing its subject. As Cleary explains, they are arranged so that “the first letter of each line forms a word or words when read vertically,” and then “words or phrases built off that first letter help describe that subject.” The collection’s more successful poems shy away from listing descriptor after descriptor, as in “Yellow” or “Snack Time.” “Teachers” creates an inspiring portrait: “They are the superheroes who show up / Each and every day, not just when some special signal or / Alarm is activated.… / … / Saving more lives than all those cape-wearing showoffs combined.” “Poem” captures the challenge of the form with a joke: “Poppies are red. / Orchids are blue. / Ever rhyme stuff? / Man, it’s really hard.” Throughout, Rowland’s brightly detailed illustrations neatly capture Cleary’s playful tone and whatever pun’s to be had.
Entertaining and spirited, though there's nothing subtle about this wily collection of puzzler poems. (further reading) (Picture book/poetry. 7-11)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2046-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well meant but unsuccessful.
The sincerity in these versified valentines to 13 often-reviled animals may ring true, but the natural history doesn’t always pass muster.
Following a strong opener—“Turkey vulture, please be mine, / Not because you soar so fine, / But ’cause you rock on clean-up crew; / No rot is left when you are through”—the quality of the informational content takes a sharp nose dive. There are arguable claims that moles and opossums do no damage to gardens and that flies and cockroaches should be considered helpful recyclers of dead matter, as well as the befuddling, apparently rhyme-driven assertion that moths (not as caterpillars but in their flying, adult stage) are pests that “dine on fields of grain.” Dubbing these and other subjects from skunks and vampire bats to mosquitoes and snakes “secret friends,” Lang closes with an invitation to readers to compose similar love notes to “someone who is misunderstood.” In oval or unbordered natural settings, Gallegos renders each creature with reasonable accuracy, though sometimes with a smile or oversized eyes for extra visual appeal.
Well meant but unsuccessful. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9834594-5-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Prospect Park Media
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This oversized volume won’t fit on a bookshelf; leave it open on a table to display the art.
Poems celebrate 12 animals that might be found in American backyards.
This collection complements Held and Kim's The Yard Critters (2011), which similarly invites young readers to think about beings that share their world. From ladybugs to chipmunks, each double-page spread features a different creature, one that may be familiar from storybooks, if not from personal experience. In a few short stanzas, the poet describes both attributes and habits. Of the porcupine: “It’s a thrill / to see this / walking quill / cushion // strolling uphill / from the cellar / where he’s built / a den down under.” “So much / does Nature / love her, / Shrew // can birth / ten litters / per year— / whew!” There’s even a riddle: “Flying from Belize to bless our summer, / this ingenious gem is called the ———.” (The word “hummer” appears in a later poem, “Field Mouse.”) Not all the ideas are important or even accurate; this is not an informational book. Nor are these your usual children’s poems. The vocabulary is sophisticated. The rhymes and sound patterns are complex and vary unpredictably. With only 12 poems, this title may seem slight. What adds value are Kim’s intriguing collage illustrations, creating stylized but recognizable animal images set on generous white space with elements crossing the gutter to lead eyes to the text.
This oversized volume won’t fit on a bookshelf; leave it open on a table to display the art. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-916754-26-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Filsinger & Co.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
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