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MOONSTRUCK!

Name: MOONSTRUCK!
Author: Roger Stevens
ISBN: 978-1-91095-978-7

POEMS ABOUT OUR MOON

edited by Roger Stevens ; illustrated by Ed Boxall ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2019

Altogether, an attractive collection of poems to share with young moonstruck listeners.

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In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, here is a collection of poems about Earth’s glowing satellite.

Of the 58 poems, eight were composed by editor Stevens, and the rest come from a wide range of both contemporary and less-recent poets. One is a traditional verse from Kenya presented first in English and then in Nandi. Two were composed by children. Boxall’s imaginative black-and-white illustrations accompany the poetry. A few of the verses include brief explanations of their significance, especially in connection with the space program. Some of the poems are delightfully evocative: “Look at the moon! / A crescent sky-ship sailing / out of a cloudy cocoon. / Look at the moon! / A cauldron of amber / spelling, rain-come-soon.” Others beg to be read aloud: “You bear the scars of asteroids / cratering your crust, / a dozen spaceman footsteps / imprinted in your dust.” Several others are a good deal less compelling for the intended audience. Some of the poems play with typography and design. “Moonlight,” a poem ultimately describing moon shadows, has each line repeated, offset and in lighter print, with an attractive sketch of a child casting a very long shadow at the bottom.

Altogether, an attractive collection of poems to share with young moonstruck listeners. (Poetry. 7-11)

Pub Date: June 1, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-91095-978-7

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Otter-Barry

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S POETRY

COUNTING IN DOG YEARS AND OTHER SASSY MATH POEMS

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COUNTING IN DOG YEARS AND OTHER SASSY MATH POEMS

by Betsy Franco ; illustrated by Priscilla Tey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 11, 2022

Readers can count on plenty of chuckles along with a mild challenge or two.

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Rollicking verses on “numerous” topics.

Returning to the theme of her Mathematickles! (2003), illustrated by Steven Salerno, Franco gathers mostly new ruminations with references to numbers or arithmetical operations. “Do numerals get out of sorts? / Do fractions get along? / Do equal signs complain and gripe / when kids get problems wrong?” Along with universal complaints, such as why 16 dirty socks go into a washing machine but only 12 clean ones come out or why there are “three months of summer / but nine months of school!" (“It must have been grown-ups / who made up / that rule!”), the poet offers a series of numerical palindromes, a phone number guessing game, a two-voice poem for performative sorts, and, to round off the set, a cozy catalog of countable routines: “It’s knowing when night falls / and darkens my bedroom, / my pup sleeps just two feet from me. / That watching the stars flicker / in the velvety sky / is my glimpse of infinity!” Tey takes each entry and runs with it, adding comically surreal scenes of appropriately frantic or settled mood, generally featuring a diverse group of children joined by grotesques that look like refugees from Hieronymous Bosch paintings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Readers can count on plenty of chuckles along with a mild challenge or two. (Poetry/mathematical picture book. 8-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-5362-0116-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

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A SPECTACULAR SELECTION OF SEA CRITTERS
by Betsy Franco ; illustrated by Michael Wertz

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DOUBLE PLAY
by Betsy Franco & illustrated by Doug Cushman

- BOOK REVIEW
METAMORPHOSIS
by Betsy Franco & illustrated by Tom Franco

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WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater ; illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Here’s hoping this will inspire many children to joyfully engage in writing.

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Both technique and imaginative impulse can be found in this useful selection of poems about the literary art.

Starting with the essentials of the English language, the letters of “Our Alphabet,” the collection moves through 21 other poems of different types, meters, and rhyme schemes. This anthology has clear classroom applications, but it will also be enjoyed by individual readers who can pore carefully over playful illustrations filled with diverse children, butterflies, flowers, books, and pieces of writing. Tackling various parts of the writing process, from “How To Begin” through “Revision Is” to “Final Edit,” the poems also touch on some reasons for writing, like “Thank You Notes” and “Writing About Reading.” Some of the poems are funny, as in the quirky, four-line “If I Were an Octopus”: “I’d grab eight pencils. / All identical. / I’d fill eight notebooks. / One per tentacle.” An amusing undersea scene dominated by a smiling, orangy octopus fills this double-page spread. Some of the poems are more focused (and less lyrical) than others, such as “Final Edit” with its ending stanzas: “I check once more to guarantee / all is flawless as can be. / Careless errors will discredit / my hard work. / That’s why I edit. / But I don’t like it. / There I said it.” At least the poet tries for a little humor in those final lines.

Here’s hoping this will inspire many children to joyfully engage in writing. (Picture book/poetry. 7-10)