A spot-on pairing of poetry and art sure to promote laughter and intergenerational bonding.
Debut author Ellis and illustrator Chambers-Goldberg (Paul Bunyan, 2011, etc.) channel Shel Silverstein in this collection of 26 humorous poems illustrated with droll black-and-white line drawings.
Many of these poems will send their 5-and-up audience into fits of giggles. “Fresh Cut Grass,” in which a man has grass for hair, can’t help but plant hilarious imagery in young minds: “I take great pleasure in my lawn and love to watch it grow. / The only thing I do not like is when it’s time to mow.” The perspective in these poems is perfectly kidlike. “Grandma’s Old Chair,”—which just may be alive and hungry—and “The Greatest Dive Never” might send adult readers spinning back to their childhoods as well. In the very short “Snow” —“I went to play in the snow today, / but had no fun at all. / The snow is almost four feet deep, / and I’m just three feet tall.”—the accompanying art shows the tip of a tasseled cap and two up-stretched, mittened hands. A few of the poems, including “Head Swallower,” stand out for their original premises: “Today I swallowed my own head, / and now it sits inside my tummy. / The bad news is it’s really dark. / The good news is I taste quite yummy.” Several poems have wicked twists: “The Great Bug Squasher” actually becomes the squashee. Mostly, the rhythm is regular and the rhyme is perfect; only occasionally does the regular meter falter, as in “Monster Under My Bed”: “A monster lives under my bed / and now I can’t sleep anymore. / It’s not because I’m scared of him / it’s just because of his loud snore.” More variation of the rhyming couplet structure would be welcome. A handful of entries, like “The World’s Shortest Rhyme” and “The Dance,” aren’t quite up to the standard set by the rest, but with nearly faultless poems like “Rain in Candy Land,” readers will forgive such quibbles.
A spot-on pairing of poetry and art sure to promote laughter and intergenerational bonding.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477613481
Page Count: 34
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 22, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems.
Rhyming poems introduce children to anthropomorphized trucks of all sorts, as well as the jobs that they do.
Adorable multiethnic children are the drivers of these 16 trucks—from construction equipment to city trucks, rescue vehicles and a semi—easily standing in for readers, a point made very clear on the final spread. Varying rhyme schemes and poem lengths help keep readers’ attention. For the most part, the rhymes and rhythms work, as in this, from “Cement Mixer”: “No time to wait; / he can’t sit still. / He has to beg your pardon. / For if he dawdles on the way, / his slushy load will harden.” Slonim’s trucks each sport an expressive pair of eyes, but the anthropomorphism stops there, at least in the pictures—Vestergaard sometimes takes it too far, as in “Bulldozer”: “He’s not a bully, either, / although he’s big and tough. / He waits his turn, plays well with friends, / and pushes just enough.” A few trucks’ jobs get short shrift, to mixed effect: “Skid-Steer Loader” focuses on how this truck moves without the typical steering wheel, but “Semi” runs with a royalty analogy and fails to truly impart any knowledge. The acrylic-and-charcoal artwork, set against white backgrounds, keeps the focus on the trucks and the jobs they are doing.
While there are many rhyming truck books out there, this stands out for being a collection of poems. (Picture book/poetry. 3-6)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5078-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
“It’s wise to stay clear / Of the dangerous cobra / All months of the year, / Including Octobra.” But it wouldn’t be wise to stay clear of Florian’s latest poetry collection, sixth in his successful series of witty poems and paintings about creatures of all sorts (Mammalabilia: Poems and Paintings, 2000, etc.). This volume includes 21 short poems about reptiles and amphibians, including common creatures such as the bullfrog and the box turtle and more exotic specimens such as the komodo dragon and the red-eyed tree frog. Teachers will like the way the rhyming poems integrate into elementary science lessons, imparting some basic zoological facts along with the giggles, and kids will love the poems because they’re clever and funny in a style reminiscent of Ogden Nash, full of wordplay and sly humor. Florian’s impressionistic full-page illustrations are done in watercolors on primed, brown paper bags, often offering another layer of humor, as in the orange newt reading the Newt News on the cover. A first choice for the poetry shelves in all libraries, this collection is toadally terrific. (Poetry. 4-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-202591-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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