HUNGRY FOR THE ARTS

Are you hungry for the arts? “Choose buffets or a-la-carte. / Music, / dance, / drama, / art!”

Although many of the poems herein really encompass several arts, a color-coded circle at the beginning of each poem identifies the featured topic. Poems with a green dot for drama include the (very busy) jungle-, pirate-, and alien-themed “When I’m…,” with plenty of R’s to roll and roles to play; “A Dramatic Ride” reenactment of a “ride [on] the Loop-de-Loop, the curviest coaster”; and “Move Into Drama,” which offers movement exercises to “make… / roles seem real.” One dance poem creates silly rhymes to bring sports moves to the dance floor by suggesting “basketball with a teacup pup,” “hockey with a mallard duck,” and “soccer with a lone star tick,” and readers will giggle their way through “The Whammy-Roo,” a new dance demonstrated by two White kids, one nondisabled and one who uses a wheelchair. Creative poetry formats include an acrostic, one all about the rhythm written with musical quarter and eighth notes, another defining musical terms using creative font manipulation, and an ode to shapes in art. “Circle, where would I be… / If you left me? Where would I even start…?” Bright cartoon illustrations starring animals, robots, dinosaurs, and a multiracial ensemble of children fairly scream fun and encourage active, creative participation in the arts. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A creative invitation to sample (and cook up) a smorgasbord of art, drama, dance, and music.