PUT YOUR EYES UP HERE

Dakos, an elementary-school reading specialist, offers another school-themed collection of poetry, this time describing a school year in an unusual classroom. A creative, quirky teacher—Ms. Roys—reaches her students in some extraordinary ways, with funny accessories, odd collections, and unique room decorations. A little girl named Penny is the first-person author of many of the poems; other selections come from the viewpoints of her classmates and by Ms. Roys herself. The teacher is a real personality created through the mosaic effect of the poems: she bites her nails, writes poems for her students, and thinks of all the children who have attended the school throughout the decades as benevolent ghosts floating through the building. The collection includes 46 poems, many of them very short, and a short play for three characters. Some of the poems are sing-songy, some are silly or funny, and some are thoughtful snippets of life in the elementary-school world. Teachers in second- through fourth-grade classrooms will find this a useful and amusing addition to classroom libraries. (Poetry. 7-9)