April is a busy month with poetry
activities hosted to spotlight the prominence and strengthen the emphasis and
importance of poetry, not only in literature but as a way to focus attention. Also,
Earth Day arrives in April, with a myriad of celebratory events to engage
people in ways to care for the world that is our home. This month’s reviews do
not need to compete with each other for attention. The books featured this
month are handsome picture books to celebrate the earth and our environment
while also enjoying the rhythm and language that poetry is uniquely recognized
for. Enjoy!!
Earth Verse: Haiku
from the Ground Up
by Sally M. Walker
illustrated by William Grill
The wonders of the earth and its
geology are the focus of this groundbreaking haiku picture book. Often a
favorite of both children and adults, haiku can express in lean language even surprising
and explosive earth movements like a volcano erupting: “hotheaded mountain /
loses its cool, spews ash cloud -- / igneous tantrum.”
Clearly
intended for middle graders and older, Walker crafts poetry that supplies
profound contrasts as in these two haiku: “sky shenanigans: / lightning bullies
storm clouds with / thunderous results” paired with: “birds sleep in their
nests / winds unfurl a fog blanket . . . / leaves sing lullabies.” Her prose
endnotes inform readers with clarifications and descriptions that support the
poetry with science.
Gill’s
color pencil illustrations, are sometimes abstract, but are often large double
page spreads surrounding the usually three lines of poetry. From minerals,
rocks and fossils, to earthquakes, volcanoes and glaciers, this unusually
engaging picture book of haiku poems introduces readers to what’s below and
above Earth’s surface.
Candlewick Press,
$17.99
Interest Level: Grade
3 +
Curious Critters by
David FitzSimmons
This
amazing picture book of poetry is a stunning collection of animal photographs
accompanied with a poem written by the author as if each animal is speaking
their own story to the reader. The animal images appear on a completely white
background so the reader is able to focus on details that stand out sharply.
The bush
katydid is intriguing, at least in part because of its pink color. In the
katydid’s words, “My mother . . .. says her great-great-great grandmother was
pink. “That’s how I got my color . . . . handed down to me from my relatives.”
And because of the color “other animals decide not to eat me. Would you eat a blue hamburger?”
The elegantly realistic photos paired with FitzSimmons
cheerful text are an exciting combination to introduce 21 inhabitants of the
natural world.
Back matter
includes, two pages of natural history - a small paragraph for each animal
beside a small size photo - life-size silhouettes for readers to solve and
identify by their shapes, several challenging questions to consider, and a
glossary.
Wild Iris Publishing,
$17.99
Interest Level:
Kindergarten – Grade 3
Among other titles by FitzSimmons from the same publisher
and of similar high quality, interest level and cost:
Curious Critters
Volume 2
Curious Critters
Marine
A Place to Start a
Family: Poems About Creatures That Build
by David L. Harrison
illustrated
by Giles Laroche
A variety
of animals and their homes are featured in this beautifully constructed picture
book of poems. Mammals (black-tailed prairie dog, star-nosed mole, beaver),
insects (termite, paper wasp) fish (stickleback, white-spotted pufferfish),
birds (red ovenbird, white stork), arachnids (trapdoor spider, yellow garden
spider) and a reptile (king cobra) are shown building underground homes, homes
on land, in water and in air.
Harrison’s poems are easy to read
and understand. The poems use rhyme, rhythm and repetition to explore how food
is captured and nests are created and hidden. Laroche’s illustrations are
fashioned from original hand painted cut paper in multiple layers to extend and
support the poems. The pages are rich in detail, textures and colors; a
memorable combination of science and poetry.
Endmatter includes additional
information about each creature, accompanied by suggestions of books for
further investigation. The final page is a bonus poem and illustration
highlight; “A Different Kind of Builder,” sun coral, the creator of coral
reefs.
Charlesbridge, $17.99
Interest Level:
Kindergarten – Grade 4
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