by Matthew Burgess ; illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2015
An eminently friendly introduction to both the poet and his spirit—deceptively simple, just like its subject.
A picture-book biography of the poet, with appropriately quirky multimedia illustrations.
Burgess takes young readers from the birth of Edward Estlin Cummings in Cambridge in 1894 through his decades in Greenwich Village as an established poet. The economical text emphasizes his connections to the natural world, manifesting in his first poem, composed at the age of 3, and the loving support of his parents. Even as a boy, he played with words, inventing new ones and “squish[ing] others together.” Burgess chooses details that will speak to child readers: Estlin’s idyllic, streamside summers; his treehouse in Cambridge (equipped with a stove!); the encouragement of a favorite teacher; the “Krazy Kat” comic strips he affixed to his dorm walls; and especially, his effervescent, rule-breaking approach to writing poetry. Using muted, modernist hues, Di Giacomo incorporates letters and words into her double-page spreads, jumping them through a hoop in an imagined circus scene that emphasizes Estlin’s fearless wordplay and depicting them springing from the open pages of his first published book along with the titular Tulips & Chimneys. The use of a classic typewriter typeface to set cummings’ words apart from Burgess’ text is nicely apropos. Backmatter includes a chronology, the five poems, dated, that appear earlier in the book, an author’s note, and acknowledgments (which double as a bibliographic essay).
An eminently friendly introduction to both the poet and his spirit—deceptively simple, just like its subject. (Picture book/biography. 6-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59270-171-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins & illustrated by Will Terry ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2012
As the bedbug says, “absolutely / deeee licious”; a delightful introduction for audiences not quite ready for Douglas...
In poems written especially for this humorously illustrated collection, 16 versatile poets describe 16 different, mostly familiar and certainly unwelcome insects.
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! / Uck! Uck! Uck!” From stink bugs to giant water bugs, with nods to agricultural pests, creatures that bite or sting and those that prefer our waste, Hopkins and his fellow poets celebrate the pests among us. Contributors include many whose names will be familiar to readers of children’s poetry. From free verse to tight rhyme and rhythm, the forms are as diverse as the insects described. As in any collection, the poems vary in strength, but for read-aloud or choral presentation, many will have both audience and performer appeal. Terry’s smooth, vividly colored paintings, mostly double-page spreads underlying the poems, add to the fun. These bright illustrations exaggerate his anthropomorphized subjects’ bug-eyes, sharp teeth and pincers. But there’s some genuine information as well, both in the poetry and in the backmatter, which includes each creature’s scientific name or order, a thumbnail and a few words from the poem and an additional factual paragraph (which strains, sometimes, to include the titular “nasty”).
As the bedbug says, “absolutely / deeee licious”; a delightful introduction for audiences not quite ready for Douglas Florian’s Insectlopedia (1998) or Joyce Sidman’s Song of the Water Boatman, illustrated by Beckie Prange (2005). (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)Pub Date: March 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3716-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2011
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by Douglas Florian & illustrated by Douglas Florian ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2012
A lighthearted reminder of why we love the game.
Warm up and get in training for a full season of baseball poems.
Each verse focuses on one element of the game, from the baseball itself to the position players and hitters. Even the umpire has his moment. The 15 verses vary in length from eight to 16 lines, and all have strong rhythms that beg to be read with a bouncing lilt. Florian also plays with shapes and patterns of words, spacing "stretch" so it appears to do just that, and placing "leaps," "climbs" and "plummets" in their appropriate orientations. He creates some delightful phrases in "Pitcher," who is “the starter of slumps,” and “the strikeout collector.” But he also misses the mark with several rhymes and images that seem forced and clumsy. There’s little new or surprising here, but the poems generally capture the joy of boys and girls playing just for the love of the game. The introductory poems that begin the season share a page opening, while each subsequent poem has its own double-page spread with an exaggerated, elongated figure on the greens and sands of a baseball field. Rendered in a mix of gouache watercolors, oil pastels, colored pencils and pine tar (how apt!) on primed paper bags, the illustrations appear textured and touchable, with a childlike quality.
A lighthearted reminder of why we love the game. (Picture book/ poetry. 6-9)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-68838-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
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