Poetry

Title: "Splish Splash" 

Author: Joan Bransfield Graham

Illustrator: Steve Scott

Publisher: Ticknor & Field Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 1994

ISBN: 0-395-70128-7

Rating: 4/5

"Splish Splash" is a book full of children's poems about different things that involve water. The poems are about things such as: icicles, rain-drops, and waves. The author uses creative language to describe each of these things, and even has the words form the shape of the object in question. I give this book a 4/5, because it is a very creative set of poems. The words move throughout the page in a variety of shapes and fonts, which I feel would interest students in the book. Also, it's about different topics that are common in life. Although the poems are written in  way that the words move along the page, the actual artistic elements of this book are slightly bland, which is my only concern. 

Title: "Silver Seeds"

Author: Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer

Illustrator: Steve Johnson and Lou Francher

Publisher: The Penguin Group

Publication Date: 2001

ISBN: 0-670-88941-5

Rating: 

"Silver Seeds" is a book with a series of short poems. The story follows a little boy and a girl on their daily adventures. Each page is a short poem about some of the things the little girl encounters. For example, there is a poem about trees and leaves.

I give this book a 4/5. The images are spectacular and there is so much you can do with this book in terms of reading comprehension. Not only do the paintings drag you into the poems, but the images and movement in the words helps entice you into the book. 

Title: "What am I? Very First Riddles"

Author: Stephanie Calmenson

Illustrator: Karen Gundersheimer

Publisher: Library of Congress Cataloging

Publication Date: 1989

ISBN: 0-06-020997-6

Rating: 4/5

"What am I?" is a series of short poems and riddles about things that little kids encounter on a daily basis like a telephone. The riddle/poem is very short and describes the object. Then the poem asks, "What am I?" which prompts the little kid to answer and think about the object.

I give this book a 4/5. I think this is a genius way to get children more involved in reading, because they have to be able to comprehend what their reading and then answer and predict what the author is talking about. My only concern is that the images in the poems are slightly boring and aren't very unique.