The Poet Upstairs

K-Gr 3—Juliana is excited when her mother tells her that a poet is moving into the apartment above them. Home from school due to illness, the child drifts to sleep to the sounds of the tenant's typewriter; she dreams of flying over the ocean and a lush tropical world. Juliana illustrates her visions, and as her strength returns, she slides a picture under the poet's door. The kindness is returned with an invitation to visit, and a poetry lesson ensues during which the girl learns to turn images into words. In an effective passage, the ordinary things around them transform into a fertile river scene-and then revert to their former identities when the poem is finished. The book's message-"that a poem is like a magic carpet that can take you anywhere in the world and let you be anything you want to be"-is realized when Juliana shares her poem with her Latina mother, who conjures childhood memories and a fresh interpretation. The text is longer than that in typical picture books, and Ortiz's illustrations don't always match Cofer's highly descriptive passages. Viewers will fare better if they stop seeking precise details and give themselves up to the vibrant palette and the motion created by the flora and fauna and patterns of animated lines that overlay each mixed-media composition. While this earnest story could have benefited from tighter editing and design, the notion that words have power is convincingly and creatively conveyed.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library