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SCHOOL PEOPLE

Name: SCHOOL PEOPLE
Author: Lee Bennett Hopkins
ISBN: 978-1-62979-703-8

edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by Ellen Shi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 13, 2018

Useful, if not vital, for a back-to-school collection and good for reading aloud.

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Poems about school staff aim to reassure anxious young students.

Prolific anthologist Hopkins encourages his audience with a series of poems describing school personnel, from the bus driver and crossing guard to the librarian and sympathetic nurse. He opens with the building’s welcome—“I am waiting—come on in!”—from Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Most adults are described from a child’s point of view. Matt Forrest Esenwine’s bus driver has a “good-morning smile.” In Michele Krueger’s art teacher’s room, “my imagination soars.” Irene Latham’s music teacher makes us “walk in music like morning rain.” Shi’s digital illustrations show students of varying ethnicities and a staff diverse in age and gender though not so much in race. They add significant details. The white custodian smilingly feeds a guinea pig; the brown-skinned, male librarian wears groovy shades. A small dog follows the children who walk to school and is waiting for its owner, a little brown-skinned child, at the end of the day. This surprisingly even collection includes short poems by 14 different authors including the compiler. These are mostly free verse, with two exceptions. The rhyming couplets Darren Sardelli uses to describe the custodian come as a pleasing change of pace. Alma Flor Ada takes advantage of the rhyming sounds of Spanish to celebrate learning that will “spice up / a world / twice as flavorful.”

Useful, if not vital, for a back-to-school collection and good for reading aloud. (Picture book/poetry. 4-7)

Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-62979-703-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
BLESS OUR PETS
edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by Lita Judge

- BOOK REVIEW
NIGHT WISHES
edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by Jen Corace

- BOOK REVIEW
CONSTRUCTION PEOPLE
edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins ; illustrated by Ellen Shi

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CLACKETY TRACK

POEMS ABOUT TRAINS

by Skila Brown ; illustrated by Jamey Christoph ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2019

A book unafraid to go on beyond choo-choo.

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A poetry book for the early-elementary train lover looking for some clever verbiage to complement the cabooses.

It’s no mean feat to conjure up an original train book for kids, but, by gum, Brown and Christoph manage it. With both old favorites (freight, steam, bullet) and some new eclectic additions (zoo train, whistle-stop tour, shoulder ballast cleaner), young train enthusiasts will have plenty here to whistle at. Thirteen poems touch on a wide range of train travel and experiences. From the quiet of the early morning train yards through the power of a train snowplow to the comfort of a sleeper car, each poem is worked in a different form of verse, paired to the type of train that fits it best. There’s certainly some sophisticated wordplay at work here, as in “Electric Train”: “Power from the wire. / Pantograph required. / Cabled Line of Fire. / Tethered Train Flyer.” Don’t know the word “pantograph”? The “Train Facts” tucked in at the back of the book offer further information that is bound to be adored by expository-nonfiction readers. Digital art reveals a multiracial array of train enthusiasts, in both historical and present-day views. The overall package is a beautiful gift for locomotive lovers.

A book unafraid to go on beyond choo-choo. (Picture book/poetry. 4-7)

Pub Date: March 12, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-7636-9047-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S TRANSPORTATION

- BOOK REVIEW
TO STAY ALIVE
by Skila Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
SLICKETY QUICK
by Skila Brown ; illustrated by Bob Kolar

- BOOK REVIEW
CAMINAR
by Skila Brown

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MY MAGIC WAND

GROWING WITH THE SEASONS

by Pat Mora ; illustrated by Amber Alvarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 14, 2021

A sweet first poetry collection takes young readers through the seasons.

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Poems with kid appeal.

In the opening, titular poem, the main character declares that she is 5 years old. The poems that follow encompass the four seasons and explore topics that are meaningful to the age group, such as art projects, gardening with Mom, taking care of a pet, and more. The poems are accompanied by vivid illustrations to bring the symbolic language to life. Mora makes use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and refrain to keep verses interesting. She reminds readers in the author’s note that not all poems rhyme, and she demonstrates this with a compilation of poems that largely don’t but still provide satisfying read-aloud potential. Each poem is a snapshot of what feels most important to a kindergarten-age child, including the death of a friend’s pet snail. As the poems continue, the passage of time is indicated with the lengthening of the protagonist’s hair, and the collection ends with a sixth birthday party illustration and poem. A handful of Spanish words and phrases appear in several poems, including one titled “Speaking Spanish,” in which the family travels to Mexico, but it is not a bilingual book. The main character, modeled on Mora’s granddaughter, has peach skin with blond hair and brown eyes. Other characters appear to have light brown or white skin and brown hair and eyes.

A sweet first poetry collection takes young readers through the seasons. (Picture book/poetry. 4-6)