Blast Off!: Poems About Space (I Can Read Book 3) [Library Binding]

Lee Bennett Hopkins (Author), Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: I Can Read Book 3

Blast off on an adventure through space in this collection of poems about the sun, moon, stars, and planets. Stargazers and future astronauts alike will delight in these varied poems celebrating the celestial skies.

Noted poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins has brought together works from poets such as Ashley Bryan, Eve Merriam, and Karla Kuskin. With Melissa Sweet's glowing illustrations, this makes a stellar combination that's out of this world!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3?Hopkins's fifth gathering of poetry in easy-reader format seldom lifts readers off the ground. Nine of the 20 selections are simple invitations to appreciate the sun, moon, stars, or falling stars; Jane Yolen's "Letter to the Moon" is an apology for the "mess" left behind by astronauts; and few readers will be transported by Hopkins's offering: "A rocket ship/will take you far/to see a crater,/quasar,/star/...Blast off, child/it's/time/for/flight." The poems are short, mostly rhymed, and their use of language ranges from the simple lyricism of Ashley Bryan's "Song"?"Sing to the sun/It will listen/And warm your words...Sing to the moon/It will hear/And soothe your cares"?to a semantically confusing extract from Joanne Oppenheim's Have You Seen Roads? (Addison-Wesley, 1969; o.p.): "Wheeless/Wingless/Weightless/Unknown roads in space await us." In Sweet's delicate watercolors, children play, dance, or look up contemplatively in a variety of city, country, and extraterrestrial settings. Despite plenty of humor and high spirits, as a tour of the universe this title makes more of a small step than a giant leap.?John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 1^-3. The subject will grab kids, and the watercolor illustrations are dramatic and bright; however, most of the poems in this I Can Read anthology aren't as good as those in Hopkins' collection Weather (1994). A few pieces read as if written to order, especially those about technology. Some of the best, like Karla Kuskin's "Counting," are soft and dreamy. The title poem by Oppenheim gets both the science and the vision: "Wheelless / wingless / weightless / unknown roads in space await us." Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Library Binding: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060242612
• ISBN-13: 978-0060242619
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,787,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Blast Off! Space poems, July 20, 2010

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This review is from: Blast Off!: Poems About Space (I Can Read Book 3) (Library Binding)

Fantastic, eclectic selection of poems on the theme of space travel, the planets, aliens, the moon etc. Beautiful illustrations really complement the text and the range is great in terms of subject matter, rhythm, rhyme. Just the ticket when putting together a space themed drama workshop!