Nibble Nibble by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Wendell Minor.

Yes, yes, I know that I should save this for Poetry Friday, but I just adore this book.  It is one of those that if I had gotten a galley copy of it, I would have kept it all for myself and not shared with my library. 

These five rabbit poems were first published in 1959.  Margaret Wise Brown’s poetry demonstrates what children’s poems should be about, being both accessible and broadening at the same time.  My favorite is Nibble Nibble Nibble which repeats and repeats using different heartbeat sounds.  Here is the opening stanza:

Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
Nibble Nibble Nibble
Goes the mouse in my heart
And the mouse in my heart is
You

The structure of the poem is both simple and powerful, but it also allows children to jump right in and create their own poetry on the spot.  At the end of sharing this with my five-year-old, I was being told that Snap Snap Snap, Goes the crab in his heart.  And it went on and on with new sounds and new animals.  This is exactly what I want books and poetry to do for children, given them a form to hold on to and then the opportunity to make it their own and use their own imagination and creativity.

And then let’s talk about the art!  What makes this version special are the incredible paintings by Minor which capture rabbits in all of their cute, fuzzy glory.  His paintings are naturalistic and vivid, erasing all of those too saccharine bunnies from your mind, you return to what rabbits are all about.  Fur, long ears, and jumps.  Lovely stuff.  I want that painting of the end of summer rabbit next to the milkweed.  Sigh.  Makes me think of my childhood playing in the tall grass.  Perfection.

Share these poems, love the language, appreciate the artistry.  This one is an absolute winner.