Jackson’s poems throw off an antique light. They seem to come from a better, kinder time; they are unselfconscious in a way that makes the recycled feel new, like this might be the first time anyone thought to write about the consequences of overindulging in greasy fairground fare. Or that your eyes might get stuck if you crossed them (and it’s OK to laugh at the corny doubled-up typesetting joke). Or that listening to the ballgame on the radio on a summer night may be the apogee of something or other. Not all is sweet and pure: The haiku piece “Frost on a window / My fingers leave a message / For my brother—” is accompanied by an etching of the word “dumb” on the pane, and indeed Beech’s Quentin Blake–esque pen-and-watercolor artwork adds an enjoyably scruffy surface to the poems. In addition to the standard couplets, the poet works in a number of forms, including some smooth internal rhyme schemes. “Fix a toy / It breaks again / Nurse a bruise / It aches again / Dry the dog / It shakes again / Clean some mud / It cakes again.” Dogs and mud and bang-ups—sounds like the weekend. (Poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-494-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent creation myth, reflective and reverential.
The cosmos is within us, and this ethereal origin story sprinkles philosophical star stuff on every page.
Stars spring up from “a web of inky endlessness.” They multiply, “cast across endless time,” and eventually gather into a dusky blue-skied planet populated with not only animals and “tree and root and seed” but also indulgences like garlands, beds, and fluttering books. Still, a trail of stars from the sky cascades deep underground before reversing course “so life could reach back to the darkness,” the inexorable cycle of life revealing no beginning or end but an indomitable recurring connection among all life. Dark whorls of bruised-black paint on fully saturated pages play host to delicate details like arcing constellations and a flotilla of starships, the spreads revealed to be smaller sections of one massive and glorious artwork rendered in the golden ratio. The unseen narrator’s spare and conceptually sophisticated text sets a lyrically tranquil if mature tone, and frequent anthropomorphization of the stars and their evolution keeps the story more mythlike than cosmographic. This profoundly beautiful and thought-provoking pick offers a beatific view of the birth of the universe and makes a moving selection for contemplative readers who connect deeply with Marion Dane Bauer and Ekua Holmes’ The Stuff of Stars (2018).
A magnificent creation myth, reflective and reverential. (author’s note) (Picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9781592704910
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-525-47172-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2004
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