Read! Read! Read!

June 1, 2017

K-Gr 3-VanDerwater and O'Rourke have created a compendium of poetry that focuses on the sheer joy of reading. Twenty-three selections of varying rhyme schemes convey a world rich with emotions and experiences. Each verse is connected to relatable reading milestones, such as laughing over the Sunday comics or staying up late to read under the covers. Conversational in style, these poems provide illustrative cues that invite children to explore imagery. In "Maps," a boy holds "a whole city crinkling" in his hands while skyscrapers burst from the top of his map. Fantastical at times, O'Rourke's vivid artwork blends seamlessly with VanDerwater's text, fluctuating between bright and dark colors to suggest tone. Swaths of dark purples and blues highlight the somber nature of "Stories," where a father holds his daughter close to him on her bed. Readers learn how Charlotte's Web prepared the child for her grandma's death the next year, and small details such as a plush pig and a spider in her cobwebbed corner provide context. VanDerwater and O'Rourke also play with gender expectations; for example, in "Sports Page" it's a young girl in a football helmet and jersey who eagerly scans for the sports scores instead of the brother sitting next to her. Like most volumes of poetry for this age group, this is best suited for sharing aloud, but strong readers will enjoy perusing the book on their own. VERDICT A pleasing addition for poetry collections serving young children.-Rachel Zuffa, Racine Public Library, WI

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2017
Learning to read, wanting to read, daring to read--nearly every state of mastering the word is explored in VanDerwater's collection of 23 poems. Bookless? No worries. Cereal boxes, road signs, or even wildly decorated notebook paper can fill the bill for the greedy page gobbler. But if you happen to have a book...ahhhh, the sublime delight of reading under the covers way past dark (just like mom did) is unsurpassed. "She taught me how / a story leaps / like magic / from each page. / I'm sure my mom / read past her bedtime / under blankets / at my age." However, in this inconsistent collection, the meter alternately flows, leaps, limps, and stutters. An achingly sweet poem about a child mourning her grandma while holding fast to the lessons learned in Charlotte's Web is two back flips away from a pedestrian ode to hawks. "I am nestled on my couch / field guide perched upon my lap. / I am learning names of hawks / that own the never-ending sky." O'Rourke's illustrations are also uneven in quality. The oddly flat expression in "I Explore" vies with both the poignant father/daughter tableau in "Stories" and the comically imperious countenance of rodent Cleopatra in "Googling Guinea Pigs." Overall, these poems lack the organic integrity and easy lyric harmony found in VanDerwater's earlier books: Forest Has a Song, illustrated by Robbin Gourley (2013), and Every Day Birds, illustrated by Dylan Metrano (2016). Readers willing to pick and choose will find some gems, but there are a few rocks as well. (Picture book/poetry. 5-10)

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July 1, 2017
Grades 2-5 Lifelong readers can relate to similar milestones: that incredible surge of excitement when letters suddenly begin to make sense; the insatiable stage spent reading everything from street signs to sports pages to cereal boxes; collecting cool words; spewing obscure facts; and being transported far away. This collection of poems celebrates these experiences, usually told in first person, generally in present tense. Topics might resonate with school-age audiencesbringing the class guinea pig home for the weekend, crying at the end of Charlotte's Weband the satisfying meter and rhyme schemes, along with some fairly sophisticated (but still accessible) vocabulary, make sharing enjoyable for adults. Poems are superimposed over imaginative full-page illustrations that align perfectly with each selection's tone, helping young readers interpret imagery and appreciate nuances. Many of these offerings can stand on their own, but the sequencing and variety also makes this attractive as a read-through. April may be Poetry Month, but this collection is worth sharing at any time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)