Stately figures and scenes in luminous colors provide rich backdrops for 74 English poems selected as much for their sonorous language as for their familiarity. Morris arranges her choices in, by and large, organic order, opening with Kathleen Raines’ mesmerizing “Spell of Creation,” closing with Tennyson’s “Poet’s Song,” and in between, letting Blake, Shakespeare and Byron, Poe and Elizabeth Barrett Browning rub shoulders with the likes of Eleanor Farjeon and Walter de la Mare, Auden and Yeats with Ogden Nash and Rachel Field. Aside from a startlingly bloodthirsty ballad by Thomas Love Peacock, the entries are eloquent observations that range in tone from reverent to droll, on growing, loving, seeing beneath surfaces and living in the world. Animals put in appearances too, from Blake’s Tyger to Milne’s “Furry Bear.” Extending even to the endpapers, the flood of words and images in this sumptuous volume creates an uplifting experience for the eye and ear both. An ideal collection to give or to share. (indexes) (Poetry. 10-12, adult)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-905236-56-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Barefoot
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-06-027940-0 Dakos’s collection of 23 poems from the perspective of items found at school satisfies the I Can Read requirements of simplicity and word repetition, but may not lure beginning readers back for a second time. The material is uninspiring: The school’s front door says, “Keep me shut,/I have the flu,/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Achooooooooo!/Keep me shut,/I have the flu.” A book sings “Happy Birthday” to a ruler, then sings “Happy Unbirthday” when the ruler says that it is not its birthday. Also appearing are a couple of clever items—one on a kidnapped pencil and another on a comb pulling hazardous duty—along with some typographic elements that amiably convey the idea that words are malleable; Reed’s illustrations possess geniality and character, making some inanimate objects very personable. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-027939-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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