I Am the Book

Gr 3—6—A whimsical collection of 13 short poems, all celebrating books and reading. Many are by well-known authors like Naomi Shihab Nye and Jane Yolen, while others are by less-familiar poets. Overall, the quality of the selections is good. Karla Kuskin's "Wonder Through the Pages" is particularly strong; it ends, "the wisdom of wizards/The songs of the ages/All wonders of wandering/Wonderful pages." The accompanying picture shows a Venetian-style watery landscape, with a book for a gondola, a unicorn floating nearby, and a seawall of books in the background. The attractive and fanciful acrylic paintings feature exaggerated shapes and perspectives that go nicely with the flights of imagination depicted in the poems. Literature-loving adults will want to share this book with the young people in their lives.—Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL