Poetry Reviews

A Jar of Tiny Stars Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets Collected by Bernice Cullinan

SHELL When it was time for Show and Tell, Adam brought a big pink shell. He told about the ocean roar and walking on the sandy shore. And then he passed the shell around. We listened to the water sound. And that's the first time I could hear the wild waves calling to my ear.

Cullinan, Bernice. 1995. A Jar of Tiny Stars: Poems by NCTE Award-Winning Poets. Photos by Marc Nadle. New York: Boyds Mill Press. ISBN: 1-56397-087-2

A Jar of Tiny Stars is a compilation of poems by winners of the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Poetry for Children.  Bernice Cullinan gathered this collection by asking children to select their favorite poems written by the ten winners.  Several enchanting poems by Arnold Adoff, John Ciardi, Barbara Esbensen, Aileen Fisher, Karla Kuskin, Myra Cohn Livingston, David McCord, Eve Merriam, Lilian Moore, and Valerie Worth are featured.  This delightful book is divided into chapters and each chapter begins with a black and white sketch of one of the poets, followed by a short personal philosophy statement.  The pages that follow are filled with a sampling of the poet’s best work. The poems in this book cover a wide variety of childhood experiences, emotions, and memories.  The poems are imaginative, fun, and children will enjoy listening to the majority of them.  The black and white drawings of Andi MacLeod are cute but would be more effective if they were color.  Children will be exposed to rhyming poems like "Winter Clothes" and free verse poems like "How to Eat a Poem."  Some of the poems are funny, some tackle serious issues, some challenge the brain but all are deserving of a nice long look.  There is something for everyone in this anthology edited by Cullinan and readers will be left with a strong desire to read many more poems by these NCTE Award winners.

What the Critics Have to Say... ...the final product seems rather bland, as there is no balance of the poets' works for mood, tone, or subject.- School Library Journal

If Pigs Could Fly...And Other Deep Thoughts Collection by Bruce Lansky

I didn't study for the test and now I'm feeling blue. I copied off your paper and I flunked it just like you.

Lansky, Bruce. 2000. If Pigs Could Fly...And Other Deep Thoughts. Illustrated by Stephen Carpenter. Minnetonka, MN: Meadowbrook Press. ISBN: 0-088166-379-4

Full of laughter, full of fun…you gotta go and get this one!  If Pigs Could Fly and Other Deep Thoughts is a large collection of Bruce Lanksy’s funniest poetry.  Children will be delighted with all of these poems because they are kid tested and kid approved.  The book begins with a table of contents.  Parents And Other Geezers, Love and Other Diseases and My Twisted Imagination are just a few of the zany chapter titles.  The chapters are packed with poems just waiting to make you smile, giggle, and guffaw.  Dirty Socks is sidesplitting tale of a young boy who decides to wash his stinky socks, Ain’t She Sweet talks about sister’s smelly feet and Good-bye, Goldfish is a fond farewell to a much loved pet.  The poems are silly.  The poems are sometimes crude.  The poems are occasionally grosser than gross!  It is just the kind of stuff kids like!  The poetry in this collection has a timeless, universal appeal and is written with an authentic child-like voice.  It is humorous, rhyming, and very descriptive.  While reading Dirty Socks, you can actually see the water turn colors, smell the fumes, and hear the campers complaining!  The black and white illustrations by Stephen Carpenter are hilarious but would be more effective if they were in color.  I think this collection by Bruce Lansky will have kids crying out for more. "I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Lansky!"

What the Critics Have to Say... Bruce Lansky has done it again: created a book of poems that'll make you cry. Cry from laughing so hard, that is. - BookPage Review Lansky returns with a second collection of his own poetry for kids that proves, once again, he's in the league with Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Jeff Moss, and Judith Viorst. "There's no doubt about it--Bruce Lansky is the king of giggly poetry". - School Library Journal

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