This anthology of poems by ten poets who won the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children was compiled by editor Bernice E. Cullinan, featuring poems chosen by children as their favorites by authors Arnold Adoff, John Ciardi, Barbara Esbensen, Aileen Fisher, Karla Kuskin, Myra Cohn Livingston, David McCord, Eve Merriam, Lilian Moore and Valerie Worth. Editor Cullinan in looking at the responses of over 3,500 children to selections of these authors' poetry found that "children like poems they can understand: ones that make them laugh and ones that tell a story."
John Ciardi says that his "poetry is just a bubbling up of a natural foolishness, and the idea that maybe you can make language dance a bit." This silliness is exemplified in his rhythmic, rhyming poem entitled "Mummy Slept Late and Daddy Fixed Breakfast" which tells the tale of a child trying to eat the inedible waffles that Daddy has prepared and ending with the line "I think I'll skip the waffles/I'd sooner eat the plate".
"If there were a recipe for a poem, these would be the ingredients: word sounds, rhythm, description, feeling, memory, rhyme and imagination" says poet Karla Kuskin. Her poem, "Winter Clothes," describing the difficulty of walking when dressed in multiple layers of clothing certainly is packed with rhythm, rhyme, and imagery as we all relate to the helpless feeling of wearing multiple layers of clothing. "And when I walk/ I must not fall/ Because I can't get up at all."
The whimsical pen and ink illustrations of Andi MacLeod complement the text, supplying inspiration for those younger readers who have difficulty conjuring up their own pictures of the poets' words. There are also portraits of each of the poets by Marc Nadel. This collection of poetry from award-winning poets is sure to do what poet John Ciardi hoped when he said, "If a student can be brought to say 'Wow!' to one poem, he or she can say 'Wow!' to another." A Jar of Tiny Stars will light up the minds of young readers or listeners the way that fireflies light up a dark night.
Cullinan, Bernice E., ed. 1996. A jar of tiny stars. Illus. by Andi MacLeod and Marc Nadel. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Wordsong, Boyds Mills Press. ISBN: 1563970872.
Renowned children's poet Jack Prelutsky and award-winning illustrator Peter Sis combine their remarkable talents to create a delightful book about mythical dragons for children and those who are still young at heart. Prelutsky's collection of 17 irresistible poems will have even the most devout disbelievers singing for more just as the dragons in his poem from which the title was taken "sing of their days of glory."
The dragons presented in Prelutsky's catchy rhythms and clever rhymes range from amiable to mechanical, from nasty to disconsolate, awakening in all the mysterious fascination with these mythical beasts. His poem, "Once They All Believed in Dragons" laments "Then one day they stopped believing/ On that day, we disappeared." Artist Peter Sis' oil paintings with his signature gold borders and marvelous detail capture precisely the pictures that Prelutsky paints with his verse. His dragon camouflaged in the hilly terrain of a medieval village in "Once They All Believed in Dragons" will have many examining their surroundings, hoping to glimpse a dragon hidden there.
Prelutsky's use of imagination and visual imagery, combined with rhythm and rhyme, bring to life an imaginary friend in "I Have a Secret Dragon." This special friend is constant despite occastional breaches in loyalty from its creator. "My dragon's very gentle/ My dragon's very kind/ No matter how I pull its tail/ My dragon doesn't mind."
Believe in the power of Prelutsky's poems and Sis' art to bring to life again these wonderful beasts, for if you don't, remember this: "If you don't believe in dragons/ It is curiously true/ That the dragons you disparage/ Choose to not believe in you."
Prelutsky, Jack. 1993. The dragons are singing tonight. Illus. by Peter Sis. New York:
Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0688125115.
Poet Alice Schertle captures the essence of farm life contrasted against the world of the poet in her collection of poems, A Lucky Thing. The collection begins and ends with poems about writing poetry. Paintings by illustrator Wendell Minor contribute enormously to the text of these two poems by juxtaposing the backdrop of a rustic barn against a desk equipped with an up-to-date computer and a real-life mouse perched on top of the computer mouse. Schertle's allegorical poem, "Right Here" opens the collection at daybreak with "Right here/on this/clean white page/I'll scatter some words,/watch them grow." "Writing Past Midnight," the final poem of the collection, again set in the barn at the close of the day, sparkles with personification: "a small gray verse runs squeaking down one of the rafters/just as the moon floats in through the double barn door."
The remainder of the collection gives readers a glimpse of the creatures and things seen by the poet from her perch in the barn during the course of a day. Schertle's use of imagery and rhyme bring the sights and sounds of the farm to life. The rooster" wakes the world so the world/will know/how the sun/comes running/when a loud proud crow/says a rooster's ready and the sun/may rise/and gaze at itself/in a rooster's eyes." In the title poem ,"A Lucky Thing", a robin envys chickens who are fed by the farmer and the chickens are jealous that the robin is free to sing and fly away. "They heard his melody/ and clucked it was a lucky thing/ to be a robin who could sing/ a song upon a hawthorn tree." A weather vane atop the barn is brought to life through her use of personification: "A rusty squeak/is the rooster's crow/He points the way/for the wind to go".
The brilliantly colored, realistic watercolor paintings by Wendell Minor augment the verse beautifully. The look of astonishment on the face of the scarecrow in the double page spread entitled "Scarecrow" gives the impression that perhaps by the light of the moon the scarecrow could be transformed into a living creature. "And once I saw his round astonished eyes/observe with more than painted on surprise/a black snake flow like water down a hole,/and heard him sigh upon his wooden pole."
Schertle, Alice. 1999. A lucky thing. Illus. by Wendell Minor. New York: Harcourt, Inc.
ISBN: 0152005412.
Poet Douglas Florian explores of the world of arachnids in his witty collection of twenty-one poems, Insectlopedia. This zany collection of poems creeps, crawls and buzzes through the myriad world of insects, combining bits of scientific information with dashes of whimsy. Children will garner knowledge of insects in a painless manner through Florian's clever use of words with multiple meanings in"Caterpillar" ("She eats eight leaves at least/ To fill her,/ Which leaves her like a/Fatterpillar,/ Then rents a room inside/ A pupa,/ And checks out: Madame Butterfly -/ How super!"), and his catchy rhythm and rhyme in "The Walkingstick" ("The walkingstick is thin, not thick,/And has a disappearing trick:/By looking like a twig or stalk,/It lives another day to walk.").
Florian's clever use of concrete poems in "The Inchworm" and "The Whirligig" will delight readers of all ages. The arching shape of the text in the inchworm parallels the abstract watercolor collage on the adjacent page which is complete with road signs which complement the text ("I stroll and stick on sticks in thickets,/and never pick up speeding tickets."). Just as whirligig beetles spin incessantly in circles, so does Florian's text on this subject, inviting readers to read it over and over again.
The brilliant use of wordplay and catchy rhythms throughout the collection will amuse and delight readers. The praying mantis swallows her prey "religiously" and weevils proclaim "We are weevils/We are evil/We've aggrieved/Since time primeval."
Insectlopedia is a wonderful combination of fact and fancy on the fascinating subject of insects. Florian's full-page abstract watercolor collages with defining white borders are positioned opposite the corresponding text. There is an abundance of "white space" surrounding the text, making the presentation crisp and clear, while the illustrations provide young readers with accurate drawings of insects set in a world of whimsy.
Florian, Douglas. 1998. Insectlopedia. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company.
ISBN: 0152013067.
