Edgar Allan Poe's Pie

Gr 4–6—Lewis—ever the innovator—has used poetic license once again, offering this collection of poems with two twists. Each original selection is written in the poetic trope of a well-known classic, the name of which is included in the title (e.g., "Edgar Allan Poe's Apple Pie," inspired by "The Raven"), and every poem contains one or more math problems (answered in fine print, at the bottom of the page). "A. A. Milne's Spooky Garden," inspired by "Us Two," asks for the perimeter and area of the garden in order to decide how much wire to buy for the fence; the narrator of "Shel Silverstein's Hippo-po-tah-tum," inspired by "Boa Constrictor," wonders how many bites it would take for the creature to eat all of him (a percentage problem). Slack's brightly colored, stylized cartoons carry off the same bizarre tone as the poetry. A mustachioed cowpoke and his horse, clad in their "tightie whities," stand before a clothesline hung with colorfully printed boxer shorts; a girl eating a doughnut "flies" above a lengthy train with the help of three birds holding her umbrella aloft with their feet. Brief introductions to the 14 poets—each accompanied by a small caricature likeness—appear on the final pages. Teachers and parents might challenge youngsters to try solving the math problems, then introduce them to the classic poems by reading them together.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Heights Public Library, OH