A few years back, I was browsing the children’s display at Barnes and Noble (in other words: a day that ends in y), and I noticed a book about Hurricane Katrina that had just won the Coretta Scott King Award. That book was Jewell Parker Rhodes’ Ninth Ward, and it sounded intriguing. I’ve not read a lot of fiction about Hurricane Katrina, just a collection of poetry by Katie Ford (which, by the way is excellent. Check out Colosseum if you can). I can hardly […]
“Never let a kitten sharpen claws on your balloon.”
Continuing our forays into new poetry, next up is Kids Pick The Funniest Poems, which is a collection of about 100 or so poems, selected by 300 elementary school children and collected for this book by Bruce Lansky. Aside from a handful of familiar names – Jack Prelutsky, Ogden Nash, Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, the previously mentioned Judith Viorst – most of the poems come from new-to-me sources, but they’re almost all American or Canadian poets. Some names include Jeff Moss, Maxine Jeffris, Phlil Bolsta, […]
Ideas can be stubborn, too
Things I am a sucker for: Perfectly illustrated, gigantic concept encompassing, not-too-preachy, ‘I see what you did there’ picture books. Author’s notes that include the words “luckiest person on the planet.” Books you can give as gifts to both adults and children (so long as you have the right kind of friends). Well, What Do You Do With An Idea? by Kobi Yamada fits all three categories and manages to be sweet enough and powerful enough that I may have bought three additional copies the […]
“If I were in charge of the world, you wouldn’t have lonely.”
In order to pass on my love of poetry to my niblings (and expand our horizons a tad bit beyond Where The Sidewalk Ends), my niece and I have recently spent some time exploring the 810s at our local library. One of our very first finds – and one of the biggest hits – is Judith Viorst’s If I Were in Charge of The World (and other worries). For my niece and I, the best kind of poetry is nonsense poetry – we’ve spent a […]