A creative invitation to sample (and cook up) a smorgasbord of art, drama, dance, and music.
Are you hungry for the arts? “Choose buffets or a-la-carte. / Music, / dance, / drama, / art!”
Although many of the poems herein really encompass several arts, a color-coded circle at the beginning of each poem identifies the featured topic. Poems with a green dot for drama include the (very busy) jungle-, pirate-, and alien-themed “When I’m…,” with plenty of R’s to roll and roles to play; “A Dramatic Ride” reenactment of a “ride [on] the Loop-de-Loop, the curviest coaster”; and “Move Into Drama,” which offers movement exercises to “make… / roles seem real.” One dance poem creates silly rhymes to bring sports moves to the dance floor by suggesting “basketball with a teacup pup,” “hockey with a mallard duck,” and “soccer with a lone star tick,” and readers will giggle their way through “The Whammy-Roo,” a new dance demonstrated by two White kids, one nondisabled and one who uses a wheelchair. Creative poetry formats include an acrostic, one all about the rhythm written with musical quarter and eighth notes, another defining musical terms using creative font manipulation, and an ode to shapes in art. “Circle, where would I be… / If you left me? Where would I even start…?” Bright cartoon illustrations starring animals, robots, dinosaurs, and a multiracial ensemble of children fairly scream fun and encourage active, creative participation in the arts. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A creative invitation to sample (and cook up) a smorgasbord of art, drama, dance, and music. (glossary) (Picture book/poetry. 5-10)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-55455-466-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Here’s hoping this will inspire many children to joyfully engage in writing.
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)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68437-362-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Every educator knows the bathroom pass is an escape route for students. While neither condemning nor condoning that...
Dakos adds another collection to the poetry shelf, this one taking its inspiration from the school bathroom.
Every educator knows the bathroom pass is an escape route for students. While neither condemning nor condoning that behavior, Dakos’ poetry explores the many reasons kids might need that release: to get away from a bully, to chat with a friend, to cry about something happening at home, to celebrate a victory or agonize over a defeat and, of course, to use the toilet. Standouts among the silly poems include "Trapped!," about a boy stuck in a stall during recess and "The Bathroom Dance," which speaks for itself. The highlights of the serious offerings focus on telling secrets ("Blabbermouth") and divorce ("Crying in the Bathroom"). Many, while outwardly funny, challenge kids to delve a little deeper: “We were in the bathroom, / the bully and I. / He punched me, / I punched him back, / and that’s when he cried!” While there is some potty humor, Dakos keeps it from getting too disgusting, and several poems focus on good bathroom hygiene. Reminiscent of Quentin Blake’s drawings, Beech’s vignettes masterfully capture the essence of each poem, and children will be able to read his characters’ facial expressions and body language like an open book.Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8075-2675-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
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