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POEM IN MY POCKET

Name: POEM IN MY POCKET
Author: Chris Tougas
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0145-2

by Chris Tougas ; illustrated by Josée Bisaillon ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2021

This book about wordplay strikes the write balance between silly and sincere.

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An unnamed protagonist arrives home with a poem in their pocket.

Unfortunately, the protagonist doesn’t realize that that pocket has a hole in it. Words, verses, and stanzas tumble out of the poet’s pocket, and a sudden wind scatters them down the stairs and into the neighborhood. Before long, the mischievous letters of the poem wreak good-natured havoc, fabricating new nonsensical words, creating new rhymes, and filling the world with puns. The poet runs after the letters, trying to catch them. Eventually, the poet gathers the letters together and tries to re-create the original poem only to find that it is a puzzle they are unable to solve. When the wind dies down, the rain starts, and the words are scattered again. Will the poet be able to re-create their poem? Or would words and letters rather be free to play? This rhyming picture book is a celebration of the flexibility of language. The illustrations incorporate age-appropriate puns, nonsense words, and other forms of wordplay that are sure to delight young readers and the adults who read to them. Although the text does not explicitly embrace diverse themes, in the illustrations, the protagonist is an ambiguously gendered kid of color. The brightly colored landscape looks urban, but it could be set almost anywhere in the world.

This book about wordplay strikes the write balance between silly and sincere. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-5253-0145-2

Page Count: 24

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S POETRY

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WHOSE BUM?
by Chris Tougas ; illustrated by Chris Tougas

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TINKLE, TINKLE, LITTLE STAR
by Chris Tougas ; illustrated by Chris Tougas

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DOJO SURPRISE
by Chris Tougas ; illustrated by Chris Tougas

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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A LIBRARY

by Nikki Giovanni ; illustrated by Erin K. Robinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 27, 2022

A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter.

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A love letter to libraries.

A Black child, with hair in two puffballs tied with yellow ribbons, a blue dress with a Peter Pan collar, and black patent leather Mary Janes, helps Grandmother with the housework, then, at Grandmother’s suggestion, heads to the library. The child’s eagerness to go, with two books under an arm and one in their hand, suggests that this is a favorite destination. The books’ wordless covers emphasize their endless possibilities. The protagonist’s description of the library makes clear that they are always free to be themselves there—whether they feel happy or sad, whether they’re reading mysteries or recipes, and whether they feel “quick and smart” or “contained and cautious.” Robinson’s vibrant, carefully composed digital illustrations, with bright colors that invite readers in and textures and patterns in every image, effectively capture the protagonist’s passion for reading and appreciation for a space where they feel accepted regardless of disposition. In her author’s note, Giovanni states that she spent summers visiting her grandmother in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she went to the Carnegie Branch of the Lawson McGhee Library. She expresses gratitude for Mrs. Long, the librarian, who often traveled to the main library to get books that Giovanni could not find in their segregated branch. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A lushly illustrated homage to librarians who provide a welcome and a home away from home for all who enter. (Picture book. 4-7)