From Publishers Weekly
Everyone's a poet, according to this exhortative poetry-reading and street-theater combo: "You've got a poem in your pocket, A poem on your tongue, did you know that? You can be the poet and you can be the poem too. Yesssss!" To prove it, seven young poets roam their city block on a summer day, using ordinary situations as material for syncopated storytelling. The players' portraits and names appear in the table of contents, so that each one is identifiable during their improv. Ratchit, a bold prankster, repeats a tough kid's threat ("Hey you, c'mere, Whatsa matter witcha"), while his friend Jacob describes a timid reaction to bullying in "A Good Cry." Mattie mimics her mother's phone voice "Yeah, uh huh, uh huh" in a song. While Doria creates a nonsense riff on "Silly Names" ("Mr. Grub T. Mudstuck, Diane Doobey Doo, Fineas Figmuff and Tina Tutoo..."), Ratchit sneaks off to play a joke on the group; after his ghostly noises inspire his friends' frightened poem, "Monsters," Ratchit laughs, then composes a reiterative "Sorry." Swados, author of the musical play Runaways, crafts an upbeat series of poems and dramatic asides. Using a crackling-hot palette of orange, summer green and blue-violet, Cepeda (What a Truly Cool World) limns a vibrant cityscape and brings out the strong personalities of the multiracial group. The slangy words and upbeat visuals suggest that poetry happens in casual conversation and friendship; readers might want to try this "slam" as a real play or spin some verse of their own. Ages 6-12.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grades 2-5--Swados's theatrical flair and storytelling skills are evident in this collection of free-verse, rap-style poems. A cast of kids is pictured on the contents page, and introduced right off the bat: "And Jacob rides a poem on the sidewalk/While Doria pours poems out of a pitcher./Ratchit throws a poem at your back, ouch!/It's poem time, you have poems circling around your head,/You've got a poem in your pocket,/A poem on your tongue, did you know that?" The selections explore the urban setting, the dynamics of group friendships, and the awkwardness and joys of being a kid. Not all the poems hit their mark ("Telephone," for instance, presupposes that the youngsters have never talked on the phone before) and the focus of the collection occasionally wanders. Cepeda's engaging, cartoon-style oil paintings suffuse the pages with thick and vibrant color, and match the exuberant and usually goofy mood of the selections. The kids have lines that lead from poem to poem, tracing a thin narrative that ties the book together nicely. Libraries that own Nikki Grimes's Meet Danitra Brown (Lothrop, 1994) or Tony Medina's DeShawn Days (Lee & Low, 2001) will find that this one extends their collection, with its immediately appealing look and upbeat tone that will encourage children to talk poetry.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
