poetry

Review: Follow Follow by Marilyn Singer

| Tasha

follow follow

Follow Follow by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Josee Masse

This is the second book of reverso poems by Singer, following her amazing Mirror Mirror.  In a form she invented, Singer tells the stories of fairy tales using a poem and then reversing the lines and changing the punctuation to tell the other side of the story.  The result are brain teasing poems that illuminate the darkness inherent in the tales themselves.  This group of poems includes stories that may not be familiar to readers, so the index of stories at the end of the book will be welcome.

As with her first book, some of the reversos work better than others.  Here my favorites are The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Tortoise and the Hare.  All of the poems have a wonderful cleverness and wit to them, making them all infinitely readable and a great deal of fun.  This is a celebration of poetry, fairy tales and word play all wrapped into one delight.

Masse’s illustrations are done on wood, giving them a wonderful texture that is reminiscent of tapestries and medieval images.  Her use of jewel tones evokes that period even more.  All of the images are also double-sided, showing both sides of the poem in one united image.

Perfect for fans of fairy tales, this clever and delicious book will have them seeking out the unfamiliar tales to read them in full.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books.

Review: Stardines by Jack Prelutsky

| Tasha

stardines

Stardines: Swim High across the Sky and Other Poems by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Carin Berger

This poetry book takes the wit of Prelutsky and combines it with equally amazing illustrations.  Prelutsky tells of unusual creatures in his poems here.  He writes of creatures who are a mix of animal and inanimate objects.  For example, there are the Slobsters who are very messy lobsters who love being crude and dirty.  There are Plandas who are pandas that sit around and make elaborate plans but never do anything.  Tattlesnakes are snakes who are nosy and always tattling on others.  This menagerie of incredible creatures will be enjoyed by children who love puns and humor.

Prelutsky excels at creating poetry that both of interest to children but will also make them stretch their vocabulary a bit.  He throws in words like “slovenly,” “pretension” and even “lachrymose.”  Thanks to his rhythm and rhymes, these words slide by almost effortlessly and usually the definition can be figured out in the context.  He also has woven puns and humor into all of the poems, nicely creating creatures that speak more to the human condition than to the animal. 

It is Berger’s art that really makes this book an incredible read.  Thanks to her dioramas that show the creatures in collages and boxes, the book is a true exploration of the intriguing.  She has deftly incorporated pins and labels that make the illustrations look like lab specimens, but without hampering all of the action in the images by pinning down the animals themselves. 

Thrilling illustrations and superb children’s poetry create a poetry book that is wild, funny and a delight to read.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Greenwillow Books.

Review: The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle

| Tasha

lightning dreamer

The Lightning Dreamer by Margarita Engle

Margarita Engle, award-winning author of verse novels, continues her stories of Cuba.  In this book, she explores the life of Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, also known as Tula, who becomes a revolutionary Cuban poet.  Raised to be married off to save the family financially, Tula even as a young girl relates more closely with slaves and the books she is reading than with girls of her own age and her own social standing.  As she reads more and more, sheltered by both her younger brother and the nuns at the convent, Tula starts to explore revolutionary ideas about freedom for slaves and for women.  In a country that is not free, Tula herself is not free either and is forced to confront an arranged marriage, the brutality of slavery, and find her own voice.

Engle writes verse novels with such a beauty that they are impossible to put down.  Seemingly light confections of verse, they are actually strong, often angry and always powerful.  Here, Engle captures the way that girls are asked to sacrifice themselves for their families, the importance of education for young women, and the loss of self.  She doesn’t shy away from issues of slavery either.  At it’s heart though, this novel is about the power of words to free people, whether that is Tula herself, her brother or a family slave and friend.

Highly recommended, this is another dazzling and compelling novel from a master poet.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from digital galley received from NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Review: When Thunder Comes by J. Patrick Lewis

| Tasha

when thunder comes

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meilo So

These poems celebrate heroes who have fought for civil rights.  Each poem focuses on one person, tells their story in imagery and strength.  Seventeen men and women are on the pages here, people from around the world and from the American Civil Rights Movement.  These are heroes who fought for justice and for equality.  Their stories and these poems are filled with courage, vision and a sense of doing what is right.  They will serve as inspiration for future generations who will have their own civil rights struggles to face.

Lewis has created poems that are both art but also informational.  He offers critical details in understanding what these heroes have been through and what they have accomplished.  At the same time, he reaches the heart of the person through his poetry too, showing the humanity about them as well.

The art in this book of poems was done by five illustrators.  The images range from the bright colors of Chinatown to the darkness of murder in Mississippi.  In every image though, readers see a leader who radiates courage.  The different art styles come together to form a tapestry of that courage.

Strong and powerful, this book of poetry deserves to be shared widely and these names known and understood.  Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

Review: Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

| Tasha

odettes secrets

Odette’s Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

This true story of a young Jewish girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Paris is told in verse.  Odette’s father is sent to a Nazi work camp and her mother works hard to protect Odette.  As the Jews in Paris are steadily more badly treated, Odette has to wear a yellow star on her clothing and is unwelcome in many places in the city.  Even at school, Odette is bullied for being Jewish.  When their apartment is raided in the middle of the night, Odette and her mother hide in their landlady’s cupboard.  After that, Odette is sent to the country to live.  There she learns to pretend to be Christian so that she isn’t discovered.  When her mother is forced to flee Paris, the two of them move together to live in the French countryside as peasants, but Nazis and bigotry are never far behind.  Odette learns that sometimes secrets are vital to survival and just as hard to stop keeping as they are to keep.

Macdonald writes in her author’s note about the inspiration for creating a children’s book that tells the story of the real Odette.  It is interesting to learn about the transition from straight nonfiction to a verse novel.  I’m so pleased that the end result was this novel in free verse, because Macdonald writes verse with a wonderful eye to both the story she is telling and the poetry itself.  She truly creates the scenes of Paris and the French countryside in her poems, making each place special and amazing. 

Perhaps most amazing is Odette herself, a protagonist living in a brutal and complicated time, forced to lie to stay alive.  Odette has to learn to deal with the fear she lives in every day, something that no one should have to get used to.  There was the fear of slipping and telling the secrets she held but also the fear that someone could figure out they were Jewish without any slip from Odette.  Macdonald creates quite a dramatic series of events that point out that Odette was terrified for very good reason.

Beautiful verse combined with a true story of a young girl World War II France makes this a very successful book that cuts right to the heart and lays all its secrets bare.  Appropriate for ages 9-12.

Reviewed from copy received from Bloomsbury.

Review: Etched in Clay by Andrea Cheng

| Tasha

etched in clay

Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet by Andrea Cheng

Told in virtuoso verse, this is the true story of the life of Dave, an enslaved potter who lived in the years before and after Emancipation.  Dave was an artist, most likely making over a thousand pieces of pottery in his lifetime of work of which only 170 survive today.  He inscribed some of his pieces with either his own name, his master’s name and also poetry that he wrote, brief verses that offer a glimpse into his world.  The amount of bravery that small act took is monumental, since Dave faced potential death because he was demonstrating his ability to read and write in a time when it was forbidden for slaves in South Carolina to do so.  Dave serves both as an example of the injustice and brutality of slavery and also as a remarkable example of the artistry and strength of human beings. 

Cheng tells Dave’s story in very short poems.  They are not all in Dave’s voice, sometimes instead being in the voice of his owners, his wife, or his children.  Cheng does not soften the harshness of slavery, offering poems that speak directly to the separation of families through selling them apart and the brutality of the punishments inflicted.  I would not call it unflinching, because one can sense Cheng flinching alongside the reader as she captures the moment but also makes it completely human and important. 

Cheng also did the woodcuts that accompany the poetry.  They are a harmonious combination with the subject matter thanks to their rough edges and hand-hewn feel.  Done only in black and white, they share the same powerful message as the poems.

This powerful book informs middle grade readers about a man who could have been one of the many lost faces of slavery but who through art and bravery had a voice.  Appropriate for ages 12-15.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Lee & Low Books.

Review: I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

| Tasha

i haiku you

I Haiku You by Betsy Snyder

This diminutive book is filled with equally small haiku poetry.  Each poem is a celebration of either love for someone else or a warm moment in time.  There are poems about warm soup, purple popsicles and lemonade.  Each one is a tiny look into a universal and noteworthy moment.  Turning from one page to the next, the book manages to avoid being overly sweet through its humor and the sense of joy that pervades it.  In other words, these are far more organic and natural poems than Hallmark ever manages to create.  Instead these are wonderful little gifts of haiku that are invitations to celebrate the small moments of life that we share with one another.

Snyder has created illustrations that are equally warm and special.  Done on cream paper, the illustrations have pops of purples, oranges, reds and yellows but still have a softness.  The result is a book that is cheery and warm.

A perfect Valentine’s Day gift, this book should also be useful as an introduction to the haiku format.  Or one could just curl up at bedtime and share some short and lovely poetry.  What better way to create beautiful dreams?  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Review: Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

| Tasha

nelson mandela

Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

In a way that only Kadir Nelson could capture, this book tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s life, imprisonment and how he became the inspiration he is.  This is a very humanizing tale of Mendela, showing his childhood before his father’s death and then his move across South Africa to study under a powerful chief.   Mandela attended school and then got involved in fighting apartheid.  The book follows him as he is jailed the first time and as he rises to be a threat to those in power and goes into hiding.  Mandela returned to South Africa to continue the fight and is then jailed again, doing heavy labor.  After being in prison for over 27 years, Mandela was freed.  His passion for righting the wrongs of apartheid and speaking for equality of all people shines from every page.

Nelson tells the story of Mandela in verse that is factual but also compelling.  He captures the long time spent in prison in a way that children will be able to understand.  Cold meals, thin blankets and beating rocks into dust.  It shows the futility and the harshness with such clarity.  Nelson’s verse also has a great sense of awe for this man and what he has accomplished, that too makes it a very special, honest book.

As always, Nelson’s images are simply wondrous.  Here they seem to shine from within whenever Mandela is part of the image.  As you can see from the cover illustration, there is all of the human inside his art; it radiates from his work.  Shown with detail, interesting perspectives, and ending with a sense of celebration, Nelson’s art is a standout.

This is the story of Nelson Mandela captured fully in a picture book that celebrates all of his accomplishments and what he stands for as a human being.  Beautiful.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Katherine Tegen Books.

Top 2012 Children’s Poetry to Wake Your Brain Cells

| Tasha

Unfortunately, I didn’t read a lot of children’s poetry this year.  Not sure how that happened, but it’s something that I want to remedy in 2013.  At any rate, here are the top five poetry books that I loved this year with links to my full reviews:

i too am america 

I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes – Hughe’s gorgeous poem is married with the story of the African-American Pullman porters in Bryan Collier’s extraordinary illustrations.

Last Laughs by J. Patrick Lewis – Dark and fiercely funny about dead animals, perfect for Halloween but worthy of reading all year round.

north outside your window

North: the Amazing Story of Arctic Migration by Nick Dowson – A striking mix of poetry, art and science tells the story of this unique ecosystem.

Outside Your Window by Nicola Davies – Explore nature through the seasons in this vibrant book of poetry illustrated with collage art that speaks to the beauty of nature.

strange place to call home

A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer – Another wonderful combination of poetry, science and art, this book explores habitats that are dangerous and unusual.