Accessible holiday poetry for the younger set.
It’s never too early to get ready for Christmas, according to this brisk collection of devotional verse for children.
For Christians, the season of Advent is a time of preparation. So great is the joy and mystery of Jesus’ birth that believers take four full weeks to ready themselves for that miracle. This slim volume is written in the spirit of Advent; in it, Meyer (Hootch, 2015) gives readers verse intended to help children prepare for the arrival of baby Jesus. Appropriately, then, her poems are short and eminently readable. Take, as one example, “Baby Moses”: “Baby Moses was saved from a bad king, / Just as baby Jesus was. / Moses grew up in a palace, in riches, / But he loved his people more. / Jesus, too, was rich, / But for us, He became poor. / When He was with His disciples, He said / That He did not have a place to lay His head.” Meyer’s simple language ensures that her message won’t be lost on young or old. Like “Baby Moses,” many other poems in the collection take on Old Testament themes. Thus, there are pieces here on early biblical heroes, among them Adam and Eve’s son Seth; Abraham, initiator of the covenant; and Israel’s great King David. In Meyer’s eyes, these Hebrew biblical standouts are important mainly because they pave the road for Jesus. Yet the poet saves some of her best language for Christ himself. In an early poem, she borrows a famous metaphor from the author of the Gospel of John to hail the arrival of the savior: “The Baby in the manger is the Light of the World. / He separated the darkness from the Light. / And when we celebrate the best celebrations of all, Being with our Savior in Heaven, / There will be no need for sun or moon, For He will be the only light.” Perhaps the only failing of the volume is that there’s so little poetry. Meyer offers readers just 30-odd brief works, and the result is less a book than a pamphlet. Yet maybe she’s just following P.T. Barnum’s old maxim: always leave them wanting more.
Accessible holiday poetry for the younger set.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4984-5495-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Xulon Press
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A festive invitation to creative liberation.
A pleasingly tactile exploration of the possibilities inherent in mistakes.
"A torn piece of paper... / is just the beginning!" Spills, folded paper, drips of paint, smudges and smears—they "all can make magic appear." An increasingly complex series of scenarios celebrates random accidents, encouraging artistic experimentation rather than discouragement. The folded-over paper can be a penguin's head; a torn piece of newsprint can turn into a smiling dog with a little application of paint; a hot-chocolate stain can become a bog for a frog. Thanks to a telescoping pop-up, a hole is filled with nearly limitless possibilities. The interactive elements work beautifully with the photo-collaged "mistakes," never overwhelming the intent with showiness. Saltzberg's trademark cartoon animals provide a sweetly childlike counterpoint to the artful scribbles and smears of gloppy paint.
A festive invitation to creative liberation. (Pop-up. 4-12)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7611-5728-1
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist.
This follow-up to How To Read a Story (2005) shows a child going through the steps of creating a story, from choosing an idea through sharing with friends.
A young black child lies in a grassy field writing in a journal, working on “Step 1 / Search for an Idea— / a shiny one.” During a walk to the library, various ideas float in colorful thought bubbles, with exclamation points: “playing soccer! / dogs!” Inside the library, less-distinct ideas, expressed as shapes and pictures, with question marks, float about as the writer collects ideas to choose from. The young writer must then choose a setting, a main character, and a problem for that protagonist. Plotting, writing with detail, and revising are described in child-friendly terms and shown visually, in the form of lists and notes on faux pieces of paper. Finally, the writer sits in the same field, in a new season, sharing the story with friends. The illustrations feature the child’s writing and drawing as well as images of imagined events from the book in progress bursting off the page. The child’s main character is an adventurous mermaid who looks just like the child, complete with afro-puff pigtails, representing an affirming message about writing oneself into the world. The child’s family, depicted as black, moves in the background of the setting, which is also populated by a multiracial cast.
A lovely encouragement to young writers to persist. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4521-5666-8
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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