A Foot in the Mouth, sel. By Paul Janeczko, ill. Chris Raschka
I love poetry for kids. Long before well-meaning teachers of literature teach teens to stand in awe of poetry and find it too complicated, those teens are children, spouting poetry in nursery rhymes, schoolyard chants, and even rap lyrics without knowing it. While they are still open to it, I always say we should fill them with it and teach them the sheer joy of playing with words and sounds, and that is just what this collection of poems seeks to do. (On a serious note, all that word play and rhyming is also an excellent builder of phonetic awareness, a key pre-literacy skill!)
This new anthology, subtitled “Poems to Speak, Sing, and Shout” follows earlier poetry collections A Poke in the I and A Kick in the Head, bringing kids a fresh batch of verse to enjoy aloud. There is a great range of poets represented here, from Shakespeare and Walt Whitman to always child-friendly Edward Lear and A.A. Milne, but I appreciate most their highlighting so many contemporary poets for children. By rights, J. Patrick Lewis should become as familiar as Lewis Carroll if we want kids to value the continuing tradition of delightful children’s poetry, and both are found here.
I like the variety and arrangement, as well, with a few poems each in several different categories. The “Poems for Two Voices” are especially wonderful for reading together with a young reader, while the tongue twisters or limericks can make for a great shared giggle. Raschka’s joyful and offbeat illustrations add to the sense that this is a volume about fun, and the whole package encourages play.
Bravo to this team for another nicely put-together bundle of verse for kids!
A career Children’s Librarian, the Book Fairy (a.k.a. kittenpie) has worked in library systems in both New York and Toronto, and delights in sharing favourite books with kids of all ages. Since she can’t help but force books on people, she’s thrilled to have another place to do it without creeping people out the way she does at the bookstore.