Pocket Poems - Hardcover

Katz, Bobbi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0525471723 ISBN 13: 9780525471721

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile, 2004

Synopsis

With works from various authors, such as Bobbi Katz and Eve Merriam, a colorfully illustrated picture book provides readers with a collection of amusing, short-and-sweet poems for kids on the move.

About this title

About the Author

Bobbi Katz has published numerous books, and her individual poems are widely anthologized.

Marylin Hafner is the celebrated author and illustrator of many books for children, including the Molly and Emmett books.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3--In this child-friendly collection of short, bouncy poems, Katz pulls together more than 50 previously published selections by a broad spectrum of authors. She sets the tone with one of her own: "With a poem in your pocket/and/a pocket in your pants/you can rock with new rhythms./You can skip./You can dance./And wherever you go,/and whatever you do,/that poem in your pocket is going there, too." Familiar Mother Goose rhymes and anonymous tidbits such as "The Burp" ("Pardon me for being rude./It was not me, it was my food") are included, along with traditional entries, such as Emily Dickinson's "Autumn," Lewis Carroll's "Twinkle, Twinkle," and an excerpt from William Blake's "Night." However, the greatest representation comes from contemporary, well-loved children's wordsmiths, including Eve Merriam, Jack Prelutsky, Carol Diggory Shields, Aileen Fisher, and Lucille Clifton. The verses range from humorous (William Cole's "Banananananananana") to introspective (Gwendolyn Brooks's "A Stranger to Himself"). Hafner's whimsical watercolor-and-pen illustrations skillfully decorate the pages, visually enhancing the experience of each composition. In a closing note, Katz expresses her hope that these poems "…will find short-term homes in the pockets of many children and long-term homes in their memories." This superbly designed volume should find a home on most library shelves.--Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI
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PreS-Gr. 1. More than 50 short poems to read aloud and remember, arranged in settings from daybreak to nighttime, are accompanied by warm, clear line-and-watercolor pictures that extend the playful action. There are lots of nonsense and silliness, including Lewis Carroll's "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!" and William Cole's "Banananananana" ("I started to spell 'banana' / And I didn't know when to stop"), and puns are everywhere. In a final note to parents and teachers, poet Katz shares her enthusiasm about the joy of memorizing ("We own them forever"). Not all the selections have the sort of sing-song rhythm that is easy to remember. Often it is the metaphor and the story that will stay with young listeners, whether it is Colin McNaughton's horror take on how the old woman in the shoe dealt with all those children, or Valerie Worth's lunchbox battle between a sandwich and an apple. Hafner's diagonal picture of preschoolers and adults on a crowded escalator captures the joyful diversity of the collection. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0525471723
• ISBN 13: 9780525471721
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Hafner Marilyn
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32