Grade 3-5?Here are 36 more poems from the author of If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand (1990) and Don't Read This Book, Whatever You Do! (1993, both Four Winds). Most of the selections are good for a chuckle, and all are based on common elementary-school happenings. Some are thought-provoking and bittersweet, like "Back Away! Back Away!", a poem about a girl who dies, and "Murder in the Fourth Grade," about a student who forgets to feed the class goldfish. Dakos has a lighthearted style and shows much warmth and understanding of her audience. As in the previous books, she doesn't poke fun at children or at teachers. "Bonkers" is about Jason, whose continuous antics finally drive Ms. Hogan out the door, "...Bonk Bonk Bonkers!" But she comes back, willing to try again. Brunkus's black-and-white ink drawings reinforce the mood of the verses. Students will choose these poems for recitations and have fun reading them.?Betty Teague, Blythe Academy of Languages, Greenville, SC
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A collection of 36 poems that paint a funny, affectionate, and sometimes poignant portrait of a school year. All the poems can stand alone but they are loosely related by repeated details, such as a runaway rooster and a poet/custodian. The majority of the selections are humorous. Some of the best, such as the title poem, are written in dialogue and capture children's voices and concerns authentically. ``Bonkers'' is a hilarious litany of excuses that drive the teacher crazy, ``Thanksgiving'' takes a wry look at would-be disasters that turn out all right in the end, and ``The Book That Made Danny Cry'' is a fitting tribute to the power of a good read. That last poem and others balance the collection with a more serious view of life, such as ``Back Away! Back Away!'' about a terminally ill classmate, and ``Four Wishes'' about a city kid's yearning for wide open spaces. Some of the poems are stronger than others, but this is an effective and welcome collection of verse, ably supported by Brunkus's fine and funny black-and-white drawings. (Poetry. 7-11) -- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3^-6. Another in this season's explosion of school poem anthologies (see BKL S 1 96 for several more), this one has a catchy title and catchy jacket that will make it more attractive than most poetry books. The subjects are all down-to-earth--the nitty-gritty of life in an elementary school as experienced by the students, the teachers, and even the desks. Not all the poems seem like poetry--some resemble minidramas without much meter--and they range in tone from funny and frustrated to sad (because of the illness and death of a student) and profound. Readers may become a little confused because the poems aren't clearly separated on the page, but the drawings are nicely interspersed and help maintain the book's lively sensibility. Susan Dove Lempke

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