Jackson’s poems throw off an antique light. They seem to come from a better, kinder time; they are unselfconscious in a way that makes the recycled feel new, like this might be the first time anyone thought to write about the consequences of overindulging in greasy fairground fare. Or that your eyes might get stuck if you crossed them (and it’s OK to laugh at the corny doubled-up typesetting joke). Or that listening to the ballgame on the radio on a summer night may be the apogee of something or other. Not all is sweet and pure: The haiku piece “Frost on a window / My fingers leave a message / For my brother—” is accompanied by an etching of the word “dumb” on the pane, and indeed Beech’s Quentin Blake–esque pen-and-watercolor artwork adds an enjoyably scruffy surface to the poems. In addition to the standard couplets, the poet works in a number of forms, including some smooth internal rhyme schemes. “Fix a toy / It breaks again / Nurse a bruise / It aches again / Dry the dog / It shakes again / Clean some mud / It cakes again.” Dogs and mud and bang-ups—sounds like the weekend. (Poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-494-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
