Lilian Moore is the author of many well-loved books for children, including ADAM MOUSE’S BOOK OF POEMS; DON'T BE AFRAID, AMANDA; I NEVER DID THAT BEFORE; and POEMS HAVE ROOTS. She is also a recipient of the Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children from the National Council of Teachers of English. I’M SMALL is her first book for Candlewick Press. She says, "I’ve always felt close to the feelings of children—and I try to be sensitive to those feelings in my writing. These verses will engage readers, I hope, because of the real emotions behind them." Lilian Moore lives in Washington State.
Jill McElmurry has done illustrations for magazines, posters, and book jackets. She is also the author and illustrator of the children’s book MAD ABOUT PLAID. She says of I'M SMALL, her first book for Candlewick Press, "Reading these evocative poems for the first time, I was transported back to the days of mud pies and rope swings. I was reminded of feelings I’d forgotten I’d had as a small child." Jill McElmurry lives in Maryland with her husband and their two dogs.
This uneven collection of 18 poems has moments of literary excellence and, unfortunately, archaisms as well. At their best, Moore's (I Never Did That Before) verses are models of economy, child-friendly and evocative. For example, a child muses on the joys of a snowsuit: "I'm zippered/ up to my chin./ I like my zipper skin./ I like the way it keeps me/ IN." Other entries seem dated, either in their references or in their use of language. A list of things that come in pairs includes "gloves to wear going to town"; a child describing an arm that's fallen asleep says, "Ooh!/ Now that it's waking,/ How funny it is!/ Like ginger ale/ That starts to fizz." A recurring cast of multicultural children stars in the illustrations. The mood of the pictures is invariably cheerful; even when a narrator is shown growing bored (as in the poem "Waiting"), McElmurry adds a comic touch (in this case, a cat unties the ribbon on the present the narrator waits to give someone). However, her contributions here lack the wit of her Mad About Plaid. Ages 2-6.
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