Kids after some highbrow ha-ha’s will find them here.
A light poetic survey of the animal kingdom and then some.
Posing the question, “If I weren’t a human, / what else could I be?” Evans playfully answers with possibilities ranging from the “one-celled amoeba” and exotic narwhal to the fanciful jackalope, unicorn, even a vampire. As he curates his menagerie, Evans takes occasion to employ a variety of poetic forms in portraying both the common and the unusual, with mixed results—going so far at one point as to both use and invoke the ghazal form to describe the gazelle: “I’d live like a poem, headlong and heartstrong, / and wear a ghazal, if I were a gazelle.” Throughout, Pope’s bold, directly expressive pen-and-ink illustrations amplify Evans’ wry message, as in “If I Were a Hippo,” where Pope underscores Evans’ apt depiction with a sketch of a hippo holding a wee umbrella that barely shields its eyes. Evans’ humor, while silly and offbeat, often relies on rather refined wordplay (“If I were a polar bear, / … / I’d go with the floe”) or, as in the case of the albatross, on sophisticated literary and cultural allusions: “Of course I’d be cross / if I were an albatross! / What did I do? What the heck? / Why hang me around your neck?”
Kids after some highbrow ha-ha’s will find them here. (Poetry. 8-14)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-945268-09-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Plum Street Publishers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
Striking photographs of birds that might be seen in the eastern United States illustrate this new collection of 14 poems in varied forms. From bald eagle to marbled godwit, the range is wide. It includes familiar feeder birds like chickadees, birds of ponds and shores like wood ducks, hooded mergansers and sandpipers, as well as less-common birds like the great horned owl, rufous-sided towhee and cedar waxwings. Semple's splendid photographs show birds in the wild—flying, perched in trees or on slender reeds, running along the sand and even bunched on a boardwalk. The colors are true, and the details sharp; careful focus and composition make the birds the center of attention. Yolen’s poems comment on these birds’ appearances and their curious actions. An eastern kingbird is "a ninja of the air," and “...oystercatchers, unafraid, / Continue on their stiff parade.” The mockingbird’s “Threesome Haiku” matches his triple repetition of the tune he mocks. Some of the poetry limps, making an easy point rather than enlarging the reader’s understanding, but some is memorable. Perhaps most effective is the rhythmic “Terns Galore”: "Turning terns are all returning / There upon the shore." Short sidebars add interesting, informative details about each species and Donald Kroodsma, a well-known ornithologist, has added a short foreword. This is a welcome companion to A Mirror to Nature and An Egret’s Day (both 2009). (Informational poetry. 8-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-830-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
Performance poet Holbrook teams up again with Sandstrom (Zombies! Evacuate the School!, 2010), combining quirky, accessible verse with lively digital cartoons to explore the dynamic topic of friendship, while offering points of entry for would-be poets to harness their own thoughts on the subject. Introducing the notion that, “Your poem is your idea in your voice,” the poet encourages readers throughout the volume to use her poems as a springboard for their own writing. She offers numerous examples of writing as a pathway to bettering one’s mood, managing anger, assuaging guilt and overcoming loneliness. Those poems whose explicit topic is friendship, however, stand out both in the subtlety of their effect and insight. Though its title doesn’t exactly set the poetic ear a-tingle, “Walking on the Boundaries of Change” teaches kids how to recognize true friendship: “Some friends will dare danger, / mock or push each step. / Some friends / knock your confidence. / Real friends / form a net.” Likewise, “Confidentially Speaking” reveals the deeper meaning behind the physical horseplay that often characterizes a close bond: “We poke. / We shove. / We jerk around / and no one can suspect / that when we push away / like that / for a moment— / we connect.” A playful yet thoughtful look at the many manifestations of friendship—through words, teasing, physical play—just right for the mid-elementary crowd. (Poetry. 8-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59078-821-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
