The Poetry Petting Zoo

Along with April showers comes National Poetry Month! This month's selections are akin to a poetry petting zoo: Kids can get up close and personal with poems that represent everything from sound and meaning to simple rhymes to haiku. Each selection emphasizes the way words interact with each other and can be used as developmental tools.

REVIEWS BY CRYSTAL WILLIAMS

I Heard a Little Baa, written by Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrated by Louise Phillips, is composed of nine vignettes in which sounds are explored. For example, the sound "eeeeek" is represented by the following rhyme: "I heard a little squeak; I searched around the house. First I saw two shiny eyes, And then I saw a . . . " Well, you get the picture.

Very young children will find this book loads of fun, not only because the author has a great sense of humor but because each vignette has a page pull-out. The animal making the sound is hidden, and children must uncover it to find out what makes the sound. The book's bright, fun illustrations and interactive qualities practically guarantee that this small book will get a lot of use.


Similarly, Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round also explores the sounds of animals and is a personal favorite. Meant for children in the 2-5 age range, very old children (like me, for instance) will also delight in the adventures of Farmer Brown and his rowdy charges as they are thrown into a tornado. The ensuing mayhem causes his cows to oink, the pigs to moo, and his sheep to cluck. When Farmer Brown tries to shout, "What's wrong with you?," the words come out, "COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" He soon finds himself taking orders from the rooster who is, ahem, demanding, to say the least. Luckily, another tornado comes to town, and that's the salvation of Farmer Brown. Teri Sloat's writing is so exuberant that children won't stop laughing. And the illustrations are superb! Nadine Bernard Westcott's characters are quirky, expressive, and unforgettable. This book is a testament to fluidity and sound.


A Child's Treasury of Nursery Rhymes is the largest of this month's featured books, which is good because children will certainly use it for years. The book is broken into sections. "Welcome, Little Baby" is composed of rhymes about babies. Kady McDonald Denton has done a good job of compiling globally representative rhymes, and she includes illustrations that reflect the diversity of our world's children.

"Toddler Time," the second section, contains old favorites reminiscent of parents' own childhoods, with rhymes such as "Rub-a-dub-dub" and "Humpty Dumpty." Denton also provides a particularly useful index of titles and first lines. This book is designed to accompany your child throughout his youth, and becomes a valued friend in the process.


Following the theme of diversity, I Call It Sky is different in tone than the other poetry books featured this month. Here is a contemplative book that will introduce children to new ways of considering our natural surroundings. I Call It Sky explains to kids not only how the weather is produced, but how it affects human beings. For example, Will C. Howell has gracefully captured how rain is made: "Sometimes wet air gathers in big black bunches of clouds. When the clouds get too heavy, they squeeze out rain." Howell then moves from the literal to the figurative by emphasizing that every child experiences weather, thereby pointing young readers to a more global view of the world.

John Ward has captured the expansive nature of the book's subject with his broad and generous illustrations. Each grouping of pages represents whichever weather pattern is being discussed: fog looks and feels foggy; breeze looks and feels refreshing. Essentially, if your child has had questions like, "Why does it rain?" or "What is fog?" you'll find this book useful.


Isn't My Name Magical: Sister and Brother Poems written by James Berry and illustrated by Shelly Hechenberger, explores the world of Dreena and Delroy, the sister and brother poetry-writing characters. Children will read poems with titles that are (thankfully) beyond cute: "Dreena's Notebook That Makes People Laugh" and "Delroy the Skateboard Roller," for example. Soon we learn that Dreena and Delroy live with their schoolteacher mother and train-conductor father, and enjoy a typical sister and brother relationship. Their poetry is anything but typical, however. The insightful verse makes this book a special treat for any young reader. James Berry and Shelly Hechenberger capture the essentials of personification and provide a glimpse of the beauty in "normal" lives while depicting those lives with vivid and robust coloration.

    Isn't My Name Magical: Sister and Brother Poems
    Written by James Berry
    Illustrated by Shelly Hechenberger
    Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $16
    ISBN 0689800134

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Very young children will find this book loads of fun, not only because the author has a great sense of humor but because each vignette has a page pull-out. The animal making the sound is hidden, and children must uncover it to find out what makes the sound. The book's bright, fun illustrations and interactive qualities practically guarantee that this small book will get a lot of use.


Finally, King Honor Book The Other Side: Shorter Poems is, within this grouping of books, a title best suited for older children. Angela Johnson writes clear, concise poetry about growing up in Shorter, Alabama, and includes a cast of characters both specific and universal. In her preface, Johnson says, "My poetry doesn't sing the song of the sonnets/but then I sing a different kind of music." Those words accurately foretell the experience young readers will have with these full-bodied and sassy poems.

Following a clear narrative, the journey begins when Johnson's grandmother writes, "They're pullin' Shorter down." We soon discover that the small town has been steadily sold off to a large company who has plans to move out the remaining residents and move in a race track. The ensuing poems reveal that, like most people, Johnson has a complex relationship with her hometown. She writes: "You'd have to be/crazy/to want to live/your life in/a place like Shorter, Alabama . . . /You'd have to be crazy/to want/to wake/up every morning to sweet/magnolia and moist red/dirt . . . " Johnson offers contradiction and implication of loving and hating, wanting and despising, themes relevant to adolescents. The Other Side is a work of honesty, depicting a generosity of spirit.

Children deserve poetry -- that's a fact. Gone are the days of poetry that is too complex and inaccessible for kids. In are the days of fun and exciting poetry. Thank goodness.


There are so many wonderful poetry books available, we just can't stop mentioning them! Other delightful books that may pique your interest include:

The Bookworm's Feast: A Potluck of Poems is a delightful romp through the library -- any library. Youngsters are introduced to beloved titles (including Goodnight, Moon and Alice in Wonderland), a variety of verse, and a new way of working up an appetite.

Notable poet Elizabeth Spires has written The Mouse of Amherst, which mingles poetry and prose. A mouse has moved into Emily Dickinson's bedroom, and the two form an unusual friendship, communicating through poetic verse. Spires creates a wonderful setting for young children to learn about the life of Emily Dickinson, and Spires's own poetry fills gaps and provides theories to Dickinson's mysterious existence.

In 1915, Laura Ingalls Wilder traveled to San Francisco to visit her daughter Rose, who was a successful newspaper reporter. Her two-month visit resulted in a regular poetry feature for the San Francisco Bulletin. And now, Doubleday has released Laura Ingalls Wilder's Fairy Poems a small collection of the poems that launched Wilder's literary career. These poems precede the Little House books, and the collection includes an introductory essay written by Wilder. A real treasure for any library.

Nikki Grimes's Hopscotch Love: A Family Treasury of Love Poems celebrates many aspects of love and relationships, including those between friends, parents, siblings, even uncles! Grimes paints pictures with words, and her concise verse binds these words together. Melodye Benson Rosales's delightful illustrations enhance poems with quirky titles, such as "Why I Hate Jamel" and "Juicy-Fruit Love." As usual, Grimes leaves us wanting more!


Crystal Williams is currently pursuing her MFA in poetry at Cornell University.

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