bookshelf

MURAL ON SECOND AVENUE

Name: MURAL ON SECOND AVENUE
Author: Lilian Moore
ISBN: 0-7636-1987-6

AND OTHER CITY POEMS

by Lilian Moore & illustrated by Roma Karas ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2005

bookshelf

Though only one of the 17 poems here is new, by being paired to Karas’s intimate, generic street and parkscapes, all shine in handsome new settings. Moore writes of snow and rain, of how “roofs / design a sky,” of the pleasures of window shopping and kite flying, of the right way to round a corner, of the glories of a bridge by night and a mural filled with exotic animals by day. Meanwhile, the moon gleams, passersby chat on streets narrow or wide, children dash across a grassy meadow, a skeletal skyscraper rears up to the clouds, and pigeons—“city folk / content / to live with concrete / and cement,”—cluster hopefully near an empty trash can, while a young observer contemplates a leafless tree. Conveying an idyllic but never sugary view of urban life, this gathering not only marks a strong debut for the illustrator, but highlights the timeless quality of so much of Moore’s poetry. (Poetry. 5-9)

Pub Date: April 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-7636-1987-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
BEWARE, TAKE CARE
by Lilian Moore & illustrated by Howard Fine

- BOOK REVIEW
WHILE YOU WERE CHASING A HAT
by Lilian Moore & illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

- BOOK REVIEW
POEMS HAVE ROOTS
by Lilian Moore & illustrated by Tad Hills

bookshelf

ALL THE COLORS OF THE EARTH

by Sheila Hamanaka ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1994

bookshelf

This heavily earnest celebration of multi-ethnicity combines full-bleed paintings of smiling children, viewed through a golden haze dancing, playing, planting seedlings, and the like, with a hyperbolic, disconnected text—``Dark as leopard spots, light as sand,/Children buzz with laughter that kisses our land...''— printed in wavy lines. Literal-minded readers may have trouble with the author's premise, that ``Children come in all the colors of the earth and sky and sea'' (green? blue?), and most of the children here, though of diverse and mixed racial ancestry, wear shorts and T-shirts and seem to be about the same age. Hamanaka has chosen a worthy theme, but she develops it without the humor or imagination that animates her Screen of Frogs (1993). (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-688-11131-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994

Categories:

CHILDREN'S POETRY

- BOOK REVIEW
GRANDPARENTS SONG
by Sheila Hamanaka & illustrated by Sheila Hamanaka

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HOKEY POKEY
by Larry La Prise & Charles P. Macak & Taftt Baker & illustrated by Sheila Hamanaka

- BOOK REVIEW
BEBOP-A-DO-WALK!
by Sheila Hamanaka & illustrated by Sheila Hamanaka

bookshelf

POCKET POEMS

edited by Bobbi Katz & illustrated by Marylin Hafner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2004

bookshelf

With an eye toward easy memorization, Katz gathers over 50 short poems from the likes of Emily Dickinson, Valerie Worth, Jack Prelutsky, and Lewis Carroll, to such anonymous gems as “The Burp”—“Pardon me for being rude. / It was not me, it was my food. / It got so lonely down below, / it just popped up to say hello.” Katz includes five of her own verses, and promotes an evident newcomer, Emily George, with four entries. Hafner surrounds every selection with fine-lined cartoons, mostly of animals and children engaged in play, reading, or other familiar activities. Amid the ranks of similar collections, this shiny-faced newcomer may not stand out—but neither will it drift to the bottom of the class. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)