Customer Reviews

Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Stampede is a fantastic and funny collection of poems for kids of all ages! The poems and art work beautifully together, and kids will have no trouble relating to their favorite animal images. The poems cover situations and emotions ranging from laugh-out-loud to poignant, and will no doubt inspire your young readers to also try their hand at becoming young writers. The collection would also be perfect for kids to memorize and act out their favorite entries, perhaps with puppets or their own stuffed animal friends. Don't monkey around: buy one now for your favorite "honey bunny."

A children's poetry book
about an entire school year
From start to finish
the allegories quite dear

where else could you see
children all around
running and playing
situations abound?

From stampeding elephants
to swarming like bees
the kids swoop like sparrows
and swing like monkeys

A whirlwind of laughter
to hearts ever breaking
eighteen poems you'll remember
and keep your sides aching

Kids will see that
all their woes and fears
happen to everyone at some point
in their school careers

Adults will reminisce
of their school days past
brought vibrantly to life
the memories ever last

From the start of school to picture day to ducklings in a row, Laura Purdie Salas writes eighteen winsome poems, celebrating the highs and lows of school. With playful rhymes and bright illustrations, this book of poetry is perfect for first grade.

Laura Purdie-Salas's poems rollick across the pages, combining two of my favorite topics, school and animals, into a fun-filled, romp of poetry. Full of sensitive and lovely images and word-music to my ears. Bravo!

My 6-year-old son's face turned beet red when I read the poem "Blush" from Laura Salas's new book "Stampede" to him. Turns out he has a crush on a classmate. I enjoyed reading "Stampede" with him. We laughed out loud reading "King of the Jungle (Gym)". I call Brandon "my little monkey" because he's been climbing and swinging before he could walk. And that's what's so unique about Laura Salas's book. She uses poetry to portray incidents that happen at school that children can relate to, but with an unusual twist - the kids are depicted as animals. I'm sure every reader will relate to one or more of Laura's poems. I liked "Turtleneck" because it reminded me of all those times I wanted to crawl into a shell and hide because I didn't want my teacher to call on me.

The illustrator, Steven Salerno, make the words jump off the page through his illustrations. My son laughed at the spiked hair in the poem "Prickly" and the duck that was out of line in the poem "Ducks in a Row."

I recommend adding this book to your collection. You'll have fun reliving your school days and may feel like a red cardinal when you remember your first crush.

I'm the author of this poetry collection, which was inspired by my daughter Maddie, who had two teeth pulled. With straws for tusks, she turned into a walrus right in front of me! Then I started seeing all kids as animals!

You can visit [...] to read a couple of excerpts from the collection (and see some of Steven Salerno's fabulous art).

I hope you have as much fun reading the poems as I did writing them!

Stampede looks, on its face, to be funny.
And it is -- poems like King of the Jungle (Gym), Counting on Me, and Hike and Peek are all charming and amusing.
But the strongest poems in this book are tender, compassionate portraits of kids struggling in the zoo-like world that is school.
New Mouse, Tomorrow is Picture Day?, and Turtleneck are especially strong, and will comfort young readers while entertaining them.

This is another great collection of Laura Purdie Salas's poetry for kids. She perfectly captures the wild side of school in the primary grades. From lining up to busting loose, these poetry critter-kids live in me and in my school. Great for read alouds or memorizing. Children and adults will love these poems!