In these ``Poems for Children to Perform,'' young readers may first elect to scratch their heads: ``Alien Eyes?'' is about looking into another planet's sky; ``The Homework Guarantee'' covers procrastination; and ``Butterfly Fire'' trumpets something about ``the flame of poet-fire/When it burns in children's eyes.'' Budding dramatists can take hints from the chubby-face children who cavort through Ellis's sprawling cartoon scenes; these are usually light in mood, although the image of a man sweating over his taxes is a dismal take on ``Dad's Greatest Fear''—``that someday/I'll grow up just like him.'' Bagert's occasional proficiency, as in ``The Food Cheer''—``Carnivores! Carnivores!/We eat meat!/Herbivores! Herbivores!/Plants taste sweet!''—doesn't alter lesser, more pedestrian fare; next to books such as Jean Marzollo's Pretend You're A Cat (1990), the acting-out potential seems indirect at best. (Poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-56397-294-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1997
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
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)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
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