Florian continues his poetic examination of the seasons with this collection exploring different aspects of fall. He plays with both the concept of autumn and with the language commonly used to describe the season with lots of puns on fall/falling and poems with humorous titles such as “Hi-bear-nation” and “Naughtumn.” Some instances of poetic license will need interpretation for children by an adult: “Autumnescent,” “Tree-tice,” and “Symmetree,” while clever in concept, will not be readily understood without a mature reader’s perspective on the wordplay. The 48 rhyming poems include explorations of traditional fall symbols and experiences such as pumpkins, migrating birds in flight, and changes in fall leaf colors and weather. There is nothing traditional about Florian’s poetic style, however, and his crisp, colorful poems continue to surprise and delight the reader. His distinctive illustrations using watercolors and colored pencils complement the poems well, with a pair of tumbling children on the cover shown against a glowing golden leaf. (Poetry. 6-9)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-009278-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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A dozen familiar dinosaurs introduce themselves in verse in this uninspired, if colorful, new animal gallery from the authors of Commotion in the Ocean (2000). Smiling, usually toothily, and sporting an array of diamonds, lightning bolts, spikes and tiger stripes, the garishly colored dinosaurs make an eye-catching show, but their comments seldom measure up to their appearance: “I’m a swimming reptile, / I dive down in the sea. / And when I spot a yummy squid, / I eat it up with glee!” (“Ichthyosaurus”) Next to the likes of Kevin Crotty’s Dinosongs (2000), illustrated by Kurt Vargo, or Jack Prelutsky’s classic Tyrannosaurus Was A Beast (1988), illustrated by Arnold Lobel, there’s not much here to roar about. (Picture book/poetry. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 1-58925-044-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2005
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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Iffy art cramps this 25th-anniversary reissue of the joyful title poem from Greenfield’s first collection (1978), illustrated by the Dillons. As timeless as ever, the poem celebrates everything a child loves, from kissing Mama’s warm, soft arm to listening to a cousin from the South, “ ’cause every word he says / just kind of slides out of his mouth.” “I love a lot of things / a whole lot of things,” the narrator concludes, “And honey, / I love ME, too.” The African-American child in the pictures sports an updated hairstyle and a big, infectious grin—but even younger viewers will notice that the spray of cool water that supposedly “stings my stomach” isn’t aimed there, and that a comforter on the child’s bed changes patterns between pages. More problematic, though, is a dropped doll that suddenly acquires a horrified expression that makes it look disturbingly like a live baby, and the cutesy winged fairy that hovers over the sleeping child in the final scene. The poem deserves better. (Picture book/poetry. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-009123-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
Categories: CHILDREN'S POETRY
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