In this natural complement to Judy Sierra’s Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems (1998), illus by Jose Aruego & Ariane Dewey, Spinelli offers rhymed introductions to an arctic menagerie that ranges from orcas (“What’s black and white / [but not a penguin]? / What’s fast and fierce / [but not a bear]?”) to snow fleas, with the occasional wildflower or iceberg tucked in for good measure. In large painted landscapes that show the arctic in all seasons, Fernandes often places these easily recognizable animals in clusters—to the point, sometimes, that viewers may come away thinking that the “frozen North” is more densely populated than it actually is. Still, such light, inventive, easy-to-understand poetry is worth reading, either alone or aloud. (endnotes) (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-59078-344-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2007
Leaving behind much of the lyricism found in his previous collections, Berry (First Palm Trees, 1997, etc.) pens poems in the voices of a sister, Dreena (who has the magical name), and brother, Delroy, on their experiences in the family with a dour sister, mother (“A teacher, Mom has lots of pens/and home and school jobs”), and father, who “drives a train,/sometimes in a heavy jacket.” This father is not really poem-material: “And, sometimes, Dad brings us gifts./Sometimes, he plays our piano.” The brother, Delroy, who tenders three autobiographical poems, can’t sit still and can’t stop talking about it. There is a good declarative poem, about a strong friendship he shares with another boy. Otherwise, he is dancing like a madman (“doing body-break and body-pop”) or skateboarding under the influence of a fevered imagination (“I want one owl on each my shoulder/hooting out as I leap each river”). In her first book, Hehenberger takes a literal route, anchoring every poem in domestic scenes of family and friends; the deep colors and finely sculpted forms become set pieces for Berry’s earthbound images. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-80013-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
Some silly variations on the fates of familiar nursery rhyme characters add cheap laughs to traditional Mother Goose tales. Greenberg proposes that after Humpty’s great fall, he almost became a giant omelet, but was accidentally splattered on the kitchen wall instead. Mother Goose and her gander “both went/up to heaven/After colliding with a/747!” Peter Pumpkin Eater’s wife gets her revenge by sticking her husband in a loaf of bread. Sending up Mother Goose can be rewarding, but it’s never easy; the author, with little of the grace or beat of the originals, twists many tales with trendy, explicitly gross humor, e.g., Jack Spratt and his wife lick not only the platter clean, but a city bus, the dog’s nose, and a garbage truck. The illustrations, despite their giddiness, have a decidedly old-fashioned feel, demonstrating Schindler’s facility with nursery rhyme characterizations in finely inked cross-hatchings. (Picture book. 4-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-32767-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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