Out of This World

Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space. Amy Sklansky. Illustrations by Stacey Schuett. 2012. Random House. 40 pages.

Yesterday, I reviewed Jane Yolen's poetry collection, Bug Off! And while I liked it to a certain extent, I didn't really love it. Out of This World, however, is a poetry book that I just LOVED. It's a great collection of space-themed poems. I loved the variety of poems, the types of poetry and the different subjects. There are poems about the sun, the moon, the stars, the solar system; there are poems about astronauts, space travel, space suits, etc.

Some poems are quite short:

Moon

Marvelous
Opaque
Orb.
Night-light for the world.

 Others are a bit longer. The longest being "Vacation Destination," a poem about a boy who fantasizes about traveling to different planets on his vacation. Some rhyme, some don't. I think there is enough variety to please every kind of reader. I don't even think you have to be a fan of poetry.

My favorite poems include: "Moon," "Countdown," "Packing for the Moon," "Left Behind," and "Sun."

Each poem is complemented by an informative paragraph or two (or three). These facts are just fascinating, and they provide balance and substance to the poems.

Read Out of This World

• If you are interested in space, space travel, etc.
• If you are in science or astronomy
• If you are a poetry fan
• If you're looking for a reader-friendly poetry book

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Bug Off: Creepy, Crawly Poems

Bug Off! Creepy, Crawly Poems. Jane Yolen. Photographs by Jason Stemple. 2012. Boyds Mill Press. 32 pages.

I had low expectations for Bug Off! For one, I do not like insects. I don't like looking at insects, photos of insects. Even in a photograph, some can still make me squirm. And poetry is hit or miss for me, most of the time. So what did I think about Jane Yolen's Bug Off? Well, I liked it. It wasn't perfect. I'm not claiming that all thirteen poems are amazingly, wonderfully worthy. But the fact that each poem is followed by a nonfiction (prose) paragraph with detailed information on each insect, the fact that these paragraphs usually have at least one or two facts that are fascinating, it helps to make up for some of the more mediocre poems. In other words, I can be unimpressed by an insect's particular poem, but fascinated by the nonfiction prose about that insect. And then, of course, there are times where I enjoyed both.

The thirteen poems:

• Oh, Fly
• Praying Mantis on the Prowl
• Butterfly to a Flower
• An Army of Ants
• Honey Bee Mine
• Lovebug Alone
• Daddy Very Long Legs
• Spider to the Poet
• Dragonfly Lights
• Pop! Goes the Tick
• The No-Spot Ladybug in Court
• Grasshopper Green
• Swarm

My favorite poems were "An Army of Ants," "Butterfly to a Flower," and "Grasshopper Green."

Here is one stanza from An Army of Ants

An army of ants, an army of ants,
A-walk on a stalk, everyone in a trance;
Over and under a number of plants.
Too busy for beauty, not even a glance. 

Here is one stanza from Grasshopper Green

Greener than the grass he swings on,
Greener than the stalk he clings on,
Greener than the grass he sings on,
Green, green, green.

Some new-to-me facts...

• Many butterflies can taste food with their feet
• The number of spots a ladybug has depends on the number of spots its parents had
• The lovebug can fly as high as 1,500 feet in the air which is higher than the Empire State Building

Read Bug Off!

• If you're a teacher looking for a book about insects to share with your students
• If you're a teacher looking for creative poetry and nonfiction to share with your students
• If you have an interest in insects
• If you have an interest in nature photographs

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings

UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings. Douglas Florian. 2012. Simon & Schuster. 32 pages.

I definitely enjoyed Douglas Florian's latest poetry book, UnBeelievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings. I typically enjoy his work, I think he's one of the best poets writing for children to be found. He's one of the best of the best. This latest collection combines poems about bees with bee facts. Each two-page spread offers readers a poem, a fact, and an illustration. The book is informative, interesting, and, in a way, playful; perhaps the last poem "Where are the Bees?" is the exception to the 'playful' tone of the book since it focuses on the threat facing honeybees. The book is just a great read! It's full of I-didn't-know-that-facts and the presentation of those facts is just too fun!!!

 Read UnBEElievables

• If you're a fan of Douglas Florian
• If you're a fan of poetry, in particular a fan of children's poetry
• If you enjoy poetry with a focus on nature, on the natural world

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg

His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg: Courage, Rescue, and Mystery During World War II. Louise Borden. 2012. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 144 pages.

Look closely
at this faded school picture from Sweden.
Find the student whose number is 19
and match 19 to his signature.
Read it aloud. Let it echo.
Raoul Wallenberg.
It's a name for the world to remember.
Now you,
and others,
can become the storytellers
of this boy's remarkable life...

Read. This. Book. It is just amazing, powerful, compelling, and all sorts of wonderful! It is a nonfiction book written in verse. The verse makes it read very quickly. And the verse helps the story resonate even more, in my opinion. Though to be honest, prose or verse, I'd be caring about this story anyway. Yes, I do have a special interest in almost anything connected to World War II. But I think this story isn't just for those that already care, that are already fascinated by the subject. I think this is a book that can bring awareness or new awareness to the subject.

This book was very fascinating, very emotional. The heart of this one focuses on his time in Hungary during the end of World War II. He was a Swedish diplomat sent to Nazi-occupied Hungary to help as many Jewish people as he could. He issued special schutzpasses. What is a schutzpasse? Well, it was an "official" or official-looking document that promised Swedish protection to the person(s) listed. And at least for a time--it worked. It was saving lives. It was making a difference. Of course this project took the work of many, many individuals. But Raoul Wallenberg was the leader, the one who made it all work. As the end of the war drew nearer, as the government changed, as the threat of Communists increased, much did change and would continue to change as the Communists did indeed liberate Budapest. But with the Communists came the mystery...

I'd definitely recommend this one!

Read His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg

• If you are interested in World War II,
• If you are interested in learning more about Gentiles rescuers during the Holocaust
• If you are interested in Sweden or Hungary
• If you like compelling nonfiction

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Never Forgotten

Never Forgotten. Patricia C. McKissack. Illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. 2011. Random House. 48 pages.

Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack won a 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Honor. It is a picture book for older readers, a collection of poems focused on the slavery experience from Africa to the Americas. While the book addresses, in a way, slavery as a whole, it is also a personal narrative in that it focuses on one young man--taken from his family, his community. The book has folklore elements to it as well, as several of the poems are narrated by wind, water, fire, etc.

I definitely liked the text more than the artwork, but that is just me. (Judging illustrations is so subjective--or it seems that way to me.) I liked the personal aspect to it--tracing the loss in his family, in his community. The always-wanting, always-missing, always-wondering aspect of it. This one is more a story about those left behind. So it is unique, in my opinion.

Read Never Forgotten

• If you're a fan of poetry
• If you're a fan of multicultural poetry
• If you're looking to read Coretta Scott King winners/honors
• If you're a fan of folklore

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

The Great Migration

The Great Migration: Journey to the North. Eloise Greenfield. Illustrations by Jan Spivey Gilchrist.  2011. HarperCollins. 26 pages.

Between 1915 and 1930, more than a million African Americans left their homes in the South, the southern part of the United States, and moved to the North. This movement was named "the Great Migration." 

The Great Migration is a poetry book that won a 2012 Coretta Scott King Honor in the author category. What I liked best about this poetry book is the diversity of narrative voices. Greenfield tells the story of the Great Migration through a series of different voices--old, young, man, woman, boy, girl. Some find leaving bittersweet; others can't wait to start a new life. Some are anxious, hesitant. Others are exuberant and confident. All of the poems feel personal.

My favorite may be "IV. Question: Men and Women"

Will I make a good life
for my family,
for myself?
The wheels are singing,
"Yes, you will,
you will, you will!"
I hope they're right.
I think they're right.
I know they're right.
We're going to have
a great life. Got to try it.
Going to do it. Going to
make it. No matter what.

Read The Great Migration

• If you enjoy poetry written for children
• If you enjoy poetry with a historical subject
• If you're interested in this time period, 1915-1930
• If you are interested in African American history

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Every Thing On It

Every Thing On It. Shel Silverstein. 2011. HarperCollins. 208 pages.

Years From Now


Although I cannot see your face
As you flip these poems awhile,
Somewhere from some far-off place
I hear you laughing--and I smile.

Every Thing On It made me giddy. It did. I just LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. I think it is my favorite of the later Shel Silverstein collections. It is just as worthy to be on everyone's shelves as Where The Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up. It is so, so, so much better than recent offerings like Runny Babbit A Billy Sook and Don't Bump the Glump and Other Fantasies. If you grew up LOVING Shel Silverstein's poetry, then this newest collection is an absolute must!!!

Some of these poems are just fabulous. Just wonderful. Some are happy; some are sad. Quite a few are quirky and weird. A few are beautifully bittersweet. Some are very thoughtful and insightful. Others are just as silly as can be. I think this collection has something for every reader.

I think this is a book EVERYONE needs to read. I just loved, loved, loved it.

Here's one called The Dollhouse

You can't crawl back in the dollhouse--
You've gotten too big to get in.
You've got to live here
Like the rest of us do.
You've got to walk roads
That are winding and new.
But oh, I wish I could
Crawl back with you,
Into the dollhouse again. (151)

and here's a little one called Spider:

A spider lives inside my head
Who weaves a strange and wondrous web
Of silken threads and silver strings
To catch all sorts of flying things,
Like crumbs of thoughts and bits of smiles
And specks of dried-up tears,
And dust of dreams that catch and cling
For years and years and years.... (190)

And here is Eatin' Soup

Eatin' soup with chopsticks--
I should be finished soon.
Eatin' soup with chopsticks
While whistlin' a tune.
Eatin' soup with chopsticks
Because I have no spoon.
Eatin' soup with chopsticks
Can take all afternoon. (185)

And here's The Clock Man

"How much will you pay for an extra day?"
The clock man asked the child.
"Not one penny," the answer came,
"For my days are as many as smiles."

"How much will you pay for an extra day?"
He asked when the child was grown.
"Maybe a dollar or maybe less,
For I've plenty of days on my own."

"How much will you pay for an extra day?"
He asked when the time came to die.
"All of the pearls in all of the seas,
And all of the stars in the sky." (95)

And here's the final poem of the collection:

When I Am Gone

When I am gone what will you do?
Who will write and draw for you?
Someone smarter--someone new?
Someone better--maybe YOU! (194)

Read Every Thing On It:

• If you are a fan of Shel Silverstein
• If you grew up reading Where The Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up
• If your only experience with Shel Silverstein is The Giving Tree, and you've been meaning to give him another try
• If you're looking for a poem collection that appeals to readers of all ages; there are plenty of poems with kid-appeal (though I didn't necessarily quote those in this review); but there are so many that will appeal to older readers as well. A few I think are meant more for adults than kids. But that's the great thing about collections--different poems speak to different people.
• If you're looking to read poems that you can actually understand and relate to.

To read more poems from this collection, here's a post about the book. (Poems shared "Every Thing On It," "Dirty Clothes," "Happy Birthday," and "Italian Food.") And this site seems to share many, many Silverstein poems. Including Happy Ending?

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews