From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5-Featuring new work by such favorites as Karla Kuskin, Ralph Fletcher, Janet S. Wong, and Alice Schertle, this collection forms a unique whole. Most of the 14 poems are free verse. From Rebecca Kai Dotlich's "Porcupine" ("Bedazzled by bristles,/bewhiskered with points") to Tony Johnston's "Iguana" ("humble as a glaze of mud") to Lillian Fisher's "Camel" ("He feasts upon brambles/And ploddingly ambles"), each selection reflects upon a different animal. Alcorn's duo-toned woodcuts face each poem on varying pastel-colored pages, creating an elegant-if not immediately child-appealing-look. Various sizes of type and changing directions of lines add to the highly rhythmic quality of the poems. This design is done well, and brings the different tones together nicely. The anthology doesn't compare in scope to Jack Prelutsky's The Beauty of the Beast (Knopf, 1997), but provides new material for the same audience. Fans of Douglas Florian, Richard Michelson, Valerie Worth, or of any of the fine poets in this collection will find plenty to enjoy here.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
(*Starred Review*) Gr. 3-7. Readers won't find sentimental odes to new puppies or baskets of cozy kittens here. These 14 poems, inspired by artist Stephen Alcorn's masterful woodcuts, celebrate animals in all their bizarre shapes and fierce wildness. From the bouncy, rhymed couplets of Lillian Fisher's "Camel" ("His body is lumpy, / knees calloused and bumpy") to the single line of contemplative free verse in Tony Johnston's "Iguana," the poems, most by well-known poets, range widely in style and tone. Many assume an animal's first-person voice with powerful immediacy; others are more layered and atmospheric. But each selection centers around physical images of the animals' distinctive movement, body, and personality, often echoed in inventive line shapes, such as the small, rounded lumps of print in "Here's Frog." Alcorn's frequently monochromatic, patterned images may seem static and less expressive than the words to some readers. But as in Jan Greenberg's
Heart to Heart (
Booklist's 2002 Top of the List--Youth Nonfiction), the artwork doesn't literally interpret the poetry; it stands alone, inviting readers to find their own stories within the handsome images. A rich and satisfying collection that will be used widely across the curriculum.
Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
