Because I Could Not Stop My Bike And Other Poems - Softcover

Shapiro, Karen Jo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1580891055 ISBN 13: 9781580891059

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 2005

Synopsis

Karen Jo Shapiro's lighthearted take on some of the most celebrated poems from English and American literature will bring a smile to readers everywhere. Twenty-six hilarious poems fill the pages of this book, and many of them should sound familiar -- if just a little off. From a little dog's version of Shakespeare to the fractured homage to Emily Dickinson of the title poem, these verses will have you laughing faster than you can say "iambic pentameter." With Matt Faulkner's witty illustrations, this is one poetry book that's pure fun.

About this title

About the Author:

Karen Jo (KJ) Shapiro is a mother, psychologist, and the author of I MUST GO DOWN TO THE BEACH AGAIN AND OTHER POEMS and BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP MY BIKE AND OTHER POEMS. An avid poetry lover since childhood, she majored in English and Spanish at Colby College where she studied many of the poems and poets that inspired her children's books. She got her graduate degree in psychology at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. Karen Jo is a member of the National Register of Psychologists, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and the Association of Booksellers for Children.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-6-In these delightful transformations of 26 classic poems, Shapiro has taken the rhythms and meters of the originals and made them her own. Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" becomes "Oh, Mommy! My Mommy!," a lament from a kid stuck in the backseat on a long car trip. Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee" becomes "Macaroni and Cheese" ("It was many and many a week ago/that I and my sister Louise/first tried out a food that you might know/called macaroni and cheese"). Each selection begins with apologies to the original poet. Although the best audience for this book might be English-major parents of seven- and eight-year-olds, most of the poems do have child appeal, at least on some level. Faulkner's comic watercolor-and-ink pictures add a light touch that is totally appropriate for this fun book. With apologies to John Donne, Shapiro notes in a brief foreword: "Do not ask for whom the poems are told./The poems are told for you." Indeed. A great concept with a highly appealing treatment.
Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1580891055
• ISBN 13: 9781580891059
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Faulkner Matt