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Summary
Summary
There's nothing like curling up with a good book, but you have to be careful. Before you know it, a minute turns into an hour, an hour turns into a day, and a day may turn into . . . eternity.
Inspired by the likes of Edward Lear, X. J. Kennedy, and Lewis Carroll, the author of Arithme-Tickle and Scien-Trickery has created a collection of original poems about books and reading that range from sweet to silly to laugh-out-loud funny. Newcomer Kyle M. Stone's clever, witty, and endearing paintings make this the perfect treat for book lovers of all ages.
Author Notes
J. Patrick Lewis was born on May 5, 1942. He is a poet and prose writer who is known for his children's poems. He worked as a professor of economics before devoting himself full-time to writing in 1998. He is the author of 90 children's books including: BoshBlobberBosh, Please Bury Me in the Library, A Hippopotamusn't, First Dog, Spot the Plot, The House, and The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. In 2014, his title Voices from the March on Washington, made the Hot Civil Rights Titles List.
He has received many awards from the American Library Association, The Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Claudia Lewis Award from The Bank Street School and others. He also received the 2010-11 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Excellence in Children's Poetry Award. He was also named the third, U.S. Children's Poet Laureate for 2011-2013 by the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-A semi-swell collection of 16 poems celebrating books, reading, language, and libraries. Subjects range from Otto the Flea (who writes, of course, his "Ottobiography") to "The Big-Word Girl" (who takes her Webster's to the movies) to "Great, Good, Bad" books ("A bad book owes to many trees/A forest of apologies"). The brief selections encompass various forms, from an eight-word acrostic to haiku to rhyming quatrains and couplets. The tone is generally light, with the last few entries turning more to wonder and metaphor ("A good book is a kind/Of person with a mind/Of her own..."). Usually printed one per spread, the poems are accompanied by richly dark artwork. The thickly applied acrylic paint and mixed-media illustrations are sometimes reminiscent of the work of David Shannon, with a comically grotesque air, and add comprehension to the verses. The Lewis hallmarks are all here-clever wordplay, humor, nonsense, rhyme-though the collection doesn't have quite the spot-on snap of his best stuff. Kids will enjoy the switcheroos of "What If Books Had Different Names?" ("Alice in...Underland?/Furious George...") and the faintly macabre title poem, but others, which reach a bit for even a nonsensical point, will have less appeal. Lee Bennett Hopkins's Good Books, Good Times! (HarperCollins, 1990) and Wonderful Words (S & S, 2004), which include offerings on the same subject from many fine authors, would partner in a nice balance with Lewis's frothier nonsense.-Nancy Palmer, The Little School, Bellevue, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Despite its clever title, Lewis (Arithme-Tickle) and Stone's combination of sentimental rhymes and at times ghoulish whimsy creates a volume of poetry about reading that may leave bookworms with a bit of indigestion. The verses range from the uplifting schoolmarmish acrostic, Necessary Gardens (Libraries/ Are/ Necessary/ Gardens,/ Unsurpassed/ At/ Growing/ Excitement), to a silly ditty about Elaine, The Big-Word Girl: I took her to a horror show / (Godzilla Meets tooth Fairy) / But she could not unglue her eyes/ From Webster's Dictionary. While many of debut illustrator Stone's paintings are interesting when taken individually, they do not always capture the spirit of the poems. The boy in Necessary Gardens, for example, seems anything but excited by the stack of books atop which he precariously perches. Children weaned on scary films may enjoy Stone's depiction of Elaine escorted by a green monster and surrounded by horrified moviegoers, but those with queasy stomachs may avert their eyes. One of the most successful pairings is the title poem, for which the artist depicts a rabbit reading by candlelight among the library's stacks. Like Lewis's previous witty verse, the poems brim with wordplay, but they sometimes seem to be aimed at adults (e.g., in Great, Good, Bad, readers are told, A great book is a homing device/ For navigating paradise); children may be more at ease with the zany tone of Summer Reading at the Beach, which features book shovels for sand castle construction and leisure reading. Ages 6-9. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved