A celebration of hair, the hair of beautiful African-American girls, is the focus of this collection of gentle, joyful poems. The hairstyles emerge: braids, curls, dreadlocks, natural, sometimes wrapped with twine for strength or covered in colorful scarves, or adorned with ribbons, combs, bows, and all the other accouterments. Even wigs and glorious hats are part of the fun. Each poem is also a tiny moment in time conveyed in simple, conversational language. Told in the voice of a curious, observant child, these poems are as much about the love among all the women of her family, as they tenderly share secrets and wisdom, as it is about hairstyles. She remembers her mother humming as she plaits her hair, using the curling iron to turn “straight into wavy,” watching her great grandma weave black twine through her hair, and teasing her cousin about her dreadlocks. She describes her mama’s “natural” hairstyle as “a continent” and “her glory on earth.” When she asks for a definition of “good hair,” she is lovingly told, “Why it’s understood, Sister, if it’s on your head it’s good!” This child’s world is full of beauty, and Smith’s soft pastels convey that beauty perfectly. The illustrations glow with a sense of joy, comfort, and security. The author-illustrator collaboration took ten years to complete and the results are well worth the time and effort. One unfortunate typographical error in which “berets” is mistakenly used in place of “barrettes” does not in any way mar an otherwise delightful work. (author’s note) (Picture book/poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-023473-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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
A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
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