This trove of construction projects, relayed through a series of poems, rouses readers to roll up their sleeves and make something with their own hands—a painting, a birdhouse, a knot, a piñata, a soap-bar sculpture, a batch of cookies, a painting, or even a shadow-puppet show.
Lithe, immersive verse, voiced in the first person, inspires children to find solace, joy, and power in their handiwork. “I learn to draw by staying still. / I follow every line. / I love to draw because I know— / what I draw is mine.” This orderly, balanced, primly conscientious closing stanza conveys both the focus a finely executed drawing requires and the private pride that arrives upon its completion. Varied pacing, style, and format allow these nimble poems to perfectly reflect the activity they describe. The taut verse binding “This knot / is not easy to tie. / It is not” captures the child’s jaw-clenched frustration and concentration; its deft economy brilliantly embodies a tightly knotted rope. Teachers and caregivers will find ample opportunities to delve both into these fine poems’ mechanics and the fantastic construction ideas they encourage and describe. Fancher and Johnson’s mixed-media–collage illustrations support the verse, showing children of varying skin tones engaged in their projects; at times they allow their activities to swell surreally across the page, suggesting their transportive powers.
Poetry sparks an irresistible, primal urge to twist, cut, paint, draw, glue, carve, whittle, daub, tie, hammer, to simply make. (Picture book/poetry. 4-10)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-544-31340-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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A little girl enjoys writing poems and gets an unexpected surprise when she writes a poem and gives it to a tree, making “the world more splendid."
Sylvia marks the end of winter with a poem about springtime. After reading it to a squirrel, she ties it to a tree (“hoping that it didn’t count as littering”). When she passes the tree on her way to school the next day, she finds a surprise—another poem on the tree. “She never imagined the tree might write back.” Sylvia continues to write poems to the tree and waits to find the next poem. When she realizes a teasing classmate, Walt, is the author of the other poems, she is sad: “Had the tree she loved so much not given her a thing?” Not too unsurprisingly, the two poets become friends, harmoniously trading rhymes beneath the tree that has brought them together. Using precise, intelligent prose, Reynolds captures moments of a child’s innocence: “ ‘So what’s your name?’ Sylvia asked the tree. But the tree stood in silence. ‘Are you shy like me?’ The tree nodded in the breeze. Sylvia understood.” Maydani’s delicate, pencil-and-watercolor paintings, suffused with spring pastels, affectionately invest Sylvia (who has brown skin), Walt (who presents white), and even the tree with personality.
A sweet and quiet homage to friendship, nature, and the power of words and poetry. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-53912-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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During a period of quarantine, people discover new ways to live—and new lessons about how to care for the planet—in this debut picture book.
In this work’s poem, O’Meara describes lockdowns experienced by many across the world during the first days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Beginning with the title phrase, the author discusses quiet activities of solitude and togetherness as well as more boisterous ways of interacting. These times of being apart give people a new perspective, and when they reunite, “they grieved their losses, / and made new choices” to restore the planet. The spare verse allows the illustrations by Di Cristofaro and Pereda to take center stage. The colorful, slightly abstract cartoons depict a rainbow of people and pets, many of them living in apartments but some residing in larger, greener spaces. Images of nature healing show the author’s vision of hope for the future. While this was written in March and originally published as an online poem, the lack of an explicit mention of the reason behind the lockdowns (and the omission of the experiences of essential workers) could offer readers an opportunity to imagine a planetary healing beyond the pandemic that inspired the piece. The accessible prose and beautiful images make this a natural selection for young readers, but older ones may appreciate the work’s deeper meaning.
A poem about the pandemic with vivid illustrations and a strong environmental message.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73476-178-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tra Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING | CHILDREN'S POETRY
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