Not the most *L*iterary poems out there, but they're aimed at kids, so that's good. Not so much about metaphor, allusion, not even a lot of alliteration, word-play, or rhymes... but rather bright evocative slices of life. Illustrations and design are integral. For example, the text in the following verse of Photo Album fades out, line by line, and each line is centered under the other (which I cannot reproduce here):

Somewhere in the darkrooms
Where pictures get developed,
Sloshed around in chemicals
Beneath a dim red light,
Those other pictures vanished,
Somewhere in the darkness,
Somehow disappeared there,
Never did come out.

I also liked:

From the Ferry

Halfway across,
When both coasts have melted,
A blue balloon's bobbing
On dark choppy waves.
Maybe the wind
Tore the string from cold fingers.

Maybe some child
Thought he'd just
set it
free.

(Again, sorry I can't reproduce for you the design, including the right-justified first verse on first page of spread, second verse left justified on far right of second page of spread...) ( )

This is a book of poems with no main theme other than what seems to be solely an expression of the writer's experiences. Some make sense, some don't. However, some are very relatable. For example, "Tree House" discusses imagination which everyone can understand. This would be a great book for children to pick their favorite poems and explain their perceptions of them and maybe even create their own based off of what they've read. ( )

Uses concrete poetry to emphasize his topic. For example, when speaking of disappearing the text slowly gets lighter and lighter until it disappears. ( )

Summary:
This book is a collection of poems. Some are funny, and some you're not even sure what it means. All the poems are done differently, some rhyme, some don't. There is a poem called "Injustice" it's a simple poem about how big kids get to sit in the front and they see everything while the little kids sit in the back and they don't get to see anything. Another poem is called "Ladder" it shows the relations of a ladder to the man who used to use it.

Personal Reaction:
I only liked about half of the poems in this book. Some were really confusing to me. Maybe I think too much about what it should mean. But, there were some that I really enjoyed.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1) For this book I would give my students a photo copy of the different poems in the book. Everyone would get a different one. They would read over the poem and pick out words that they liked from the poem and then circle them. At the end when they are done circling the words they liked they could read them all together to make their own kind of poetry.
2) After reading this book of poetry I would have the students pick any object from the class and write a poem about it. They can compare the object to a person. Or they can describe what feelings they have toward it. ( )

Nature and scenery around a small town are mainly described throughout the collection of poems.

The book would be useful in discussing poetry topics with students. ( )