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Spring into the season with children's poetry
REVIEWS BY DEBORAH HOPKINSON Each season has its charms, but none is quite so intoxicating as spring. Maybe that's why (since 1996, anyway, when National Poetry Month became official) we celebrate poetry in April. This spring's crop of new poetry books for children includes several wonderful titles to help readers of all ages appreciate the many facets of spring, including flowers, rain—and, of course, mud, as celebrated here by Douglas Florian: The spring rains came and made a flood,
Florian's work can be silly, as in "Hey Day," which proclaims, "The sky has fell, the seas are dry. The fish are swimming in the sky. The moon is cheese. There is no school. And you are such an April fool!" Florian's poems also often include clever wordplay that deepens and enriches a child's appreciation of the season. Take this entry: Sometimes sun and sometimes rain—Spring is one big daisy chain.
By Douglas Florian Greenwillow, $15.99 48 pages ISBN 0060092807
April is when your blue slicker collects beads of
Each month brings with it a new activity—and a new poem, until "Earth starts to loop" around the distant sun again. This book would make a great read-aloud, a title to return to again and again throughout the year.
By Bobbi Katz Illustrated by LeUyen Pham Harcourt, $16 40 pages ISBN 0152163972
Yellow elephant in the jungle sun . . .
By Julie Larios Illustrated by Julie Paschkis Harcourt, $16 32 pages ISBN 0152054227
By Paul B. Janeczko and J. Patrick Lewis Illustrated by Tricia Tusa Little, Brown, $15.99 32 pages ISBN 0316607312
Deborah Hopkinson's new book, a Junior Library Guild selection entitled Up Before Daybreak: Cotton and People in America, will be published this month.
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A poet and artist, Florian is the reigning prince of poetry for children, somehow managing to combine innovative art with insightful poetry in book after book. In his latest, Handsprings, Florian celebrates the freshness and promise of spring—and the joyful feeling that leads to handsprings at the start of this new season.
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Spring also figures predominantly in the clever new collection from Bobbi Katz, Once Around the Sun, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, which follows a brother and sister through the months of the year. January finds them sledding, "until your nose is a dull cold pain and your big toe starts to complain about the hole in your sock." In April we see the children running through daffodils to visit their grandmother:
Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary celebrates animals and colors with poems by Julie Larios and the vibrant artwork of Julie Paschkis. Although recommended for ages 5 to 10, the book would be especially appropriate for younger children just learning their colors and animals. Some of the animals imitate nature: a white owl, a green frog and a gray goose ("Gray mama goose in a tizzy, honk-honk-honking herself dizzy") while others leap off the page in bright, vivid colors:
Spring is also a time to try out new ideas, and Wing Nuts: Screwy Haiku, written by Paul B. Janeczko and J. Patrick Lewis with illustrations by Tricia Tusa, introduces readers to the poetry form of senryu. Described as the "kissin' cousins" of haiku, these are short, pun-filled, humorous poems.
Rusa's whimsical illustrations match the wacky, offbeat humor of the poems, creating a book that is sure to evoke giggles from listeners. The first poem reads, "Tabby and Fido do whatever they want—reigning cat and dog," while the illustration shows a be-crowned cat and dog being lovingly waited on by their human family (not really so far off from a lot of families, when you come to think of it). Another poem depicts a crow, "Solitary crow calls its cousin in distant pine with its 'cawing card.' " And then there's this pun-filled gem, "City pigeons chatter and coo—busybodies eavesdropping."
Wing Nuts is just the kind of book to inspire young readers to create their own poetry for National Poetry Month, so let the shower of poems begin!