Knock On Wood: Poems About Superstitions

Citation

Wong, Janet S., and Julie Paschkis. Knock on Wood: Poems about Superstitions. New York: Margaret McElderry Books, 2003.

Poetic Elements

Janet Wong has put together another beautiful collection of poetry, this one dealing with superstitions both familiar and unfamiliar. Her poetry here is consistently free verse with some rhyme thrown in sparingly. She is a talented author in the various techniques of poetry, and she does so in a way that keeps her poetry easy to read and enjoy. She makes excellent use of alliteration throughout her poems with phrases such as “Land on my hand for luck, ladybug.” and “Fame, a faithful friend...”. She uses exciting onomatopoeia with words such as “Zing! Zap! Zing!” in her poem about the number thirteen. Ms. Wong frequently utilizes personification in her works as well when she describes how the “...hairs in your nose stand on end alive...” and how potatoes can “...pull the hurting from your bones.” Metaphors and similes abound in lines that read “...as hard as stones...”, “...Think of a horseshoe as a piggy bank of luck...”, and “...Spilled salt is magic flung wild...”. Her poetry is appealing to all of the senses, and her imagery certainly shines through with her words, and certainly when combined with the stellar illustrations which accompany it.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The poems contained within are appealing in their form and fit beautifully with their illustrations. They are short and sweet, enmeshed in rich illustrations that hold the attention of the reader. Her poetry topic is innately appealing as we grew up hearing about various superstitions. She covers many of the most commonly known superstitions as well as some that they may not be familiar with. Even if children reading are not familiar with the superstitions behind certain animals or traditions they will enjoy that some of the poems deal with horses, ladybugs, and cats. Her own author's note at the end will definitely stimulate the imagination of the readers as she suggests that we should make up our own superstitions! The carefree tone in her writing means that reading about any of the creepy or happy superstitions is enjoyable and not scary in the least.

Layout

The layout of the poem is well designed, highly thought out, and perhaps a little superstitious in its own right. Composed in warm reds, greens, and blues, each poem has its own two page spread. Interestingly enough, the left page is the exact mirror image of the right page. The only difference between the two pages comes from the cut out shape in the center of the pages. The shape itself is matching and mirrored, but the shape on the left hand side contains the main illustration while the shape on the right hand side contains the poem itself. When the reader is done reading the poetry and appreciating the meaning of her words they can turn to the back where the author has included a factual explanation of various superstitions. This is a handy tool to finding out more about the origin and basis for some superstitions, including ladders, umbrellas, and the number 13.

Spotlight Poem

Clover

If you find a four-leaf clover in the grass,

you know a horse was born there

sometime.

In the days of fairies?

Fame, a faithful friend, wealth, good health.

These will be yours, doubled, they say--

if you give your clover to me.

Follow-Up Activity

I think this poem likens itself to being utilized around St. Patrick's Day. I always used to have some fun with my second graders and would team up with another teacher to make it look as if Lucky the Leprechaun had been in our classroom, causing mischief, while we were gone for a short time. I would have Lucky “leave” this poem for my class and then we would read it when we returned. We would read it together out loud and then I might have them work together, either in pairs or individually, to write a poem in response for Lucky. What fun!

Reviews

From Booklist

The creators of Night Garden (2000) offer another beautifully illustrated collection of poetry, this time celebrating the rituals and beliefs that make up superstitions. Children will easily recognize many of the poems' subjects: black cats, vampires and garlic, fear of ladders. But some notions are more unusual: putting potatoes in a pocket to cure arthritis. But children will find the subjects compelling, and many of the poems have a sly humor and haunting, lyrical imagery. Paschkis' watercolors are exceptional. Wild patterns that mimic folk-art designs explode from the spreads with whimsical images that children will want to view over and over again. Filled with mystery, magic, and hidden worlds, these are poems to liven up language arts classes and to spark discussions about personal beliefs. Brief prose explanations about the superstitions close the book.

From School Library Journal

Itchy ears, broken mirrors, and hats worn backward join wood spirits, ghosts, and of course black cats in this imaginative exploration of common and lesser-known superstitions. The shapely poems are infused with fey intimations in keeping with the collection's theme: "It is said/salt is magic. The pure kind, sea crystals./Spilled salt is magic flung wild." Some selections are haunting, and some humorous, as in this glimpse of a vampire's downfall: "All you bloodsuckers,/this is your last chance:/I am one bite/away-/from a hunk/of Mother's famous garlic chunk chicken." Paschkis creates an exquisite backdrop for the verses. Presented on a panoramic spread, each poem and facing watercolor scene have matching frames, anchoring them as reflections of one another. Some of the borders are abstract designs, but others are suggestive of elements in the verses. For example, "Potatoes" is contained inside a lumpy oval. Adept at both storytelling and design, the illustrator places the text and picture blocks against a wonderful montage of images in tones of a single color. Children of varied ethnicities and time periods are cast in fanciful folk-art scenes. Humor, satire, subplots, historic references, and decorative and surreal elements abound in artful profusion. There is much to ponder in both words and pictures. Some of the children depicted suggest a young audience, but the mixed poetic/visual brew is sophisticated. The author includes brief comments about the featured superstitions and a note reflecting on her personal experience in this area.

Zoo's Who

Citation

Florian, Douglas. Zoo's Who: Poems and Paintings. Orlando: Harcourt, 2005.

Poetic Elements

Mr. Florian is a talented poet who uses a lot of end rhyme and rhyme within the lines of his poetry. Alliteration is present throughout, especially in Bushbaby which says “...Bushy back. Bushy knees. Bushy bush babies climb trees...”. His poems personify penguins taking a vacation and pigs going out to eat. Both the poems and illustrations appeal to our sense imagery while visualizing a shark's mouth and hearing the snake hissing. While the poems vary in length from 2 lines to 8 lines, depending on the subject, Mr. Florian is so precise in his use of poetic elements that he is able to fit quite a lot of emotional, figurative language into a short space.

Appeal and Overall Quality

Mr. Florian's poetry is a hit with children because they're so fun to read and a hit with adults because it gets the children reading poetry! They appeal in their shorter, easy to read length, the witty rhymes contained within, and his style of making his poems assume non-traditional shapes. The illustrations are an additional bonus, with so much hidden in the pictures. Readers will enjoy themselves as they look to discover how Mr. Florian laid out the illustrations to reflect the subject and marvel at what he's hidden in there. His illustration for a poem about slugs (not an overly appealing topic) shows a mountain and the progress of the slug is marked in years! Very cute! It takes a yucky creature and makes it fun, something he does very well. The poet's tone throughout tells the reader how much fun he had writing these poem and how much fun we, the reader, are supposed to have in reading them.

Layout

The book is neatly organized. The Table of Contents at the beginning guides the way to the 21 poems contained within. Each poem is spread out over two pages, with the poem centered on an all-white background on one side and the illustration, framed, on the other side. The book lists that the illustrations are “...watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, inks, tin foil, candy wrappers, shredded papers, stencils, rubber stamps, and much collage on primed brown paper bags...” which is a fair representation of the many styles he merges in his illustrations. His coloring and placement in the illustrations is quite a marvel.

Spotlight Poem

The Penguin

A penguin isn't thin—it's fat.

It has penguinsulation.

And it toboggans through the snow

On penguinter vacation.

The penguin's a penguinsome bird

Of black-and-white fine feather.

And it will huddle with its friends

In cold, penguindy weather.

Follow-Up Activity

This is such a fun poem! The illustration is just as interesting as the words, considering what he has worked into the picture. This poem would pair well with a unit on penguins, and could have an off-shoot into a language lesson since he plays with the word penguin so heavily in the poem. I would read the poem to the class and see if they catch his witticisms such as penguinsulation for insulation. We would make a list of those words and study the illustration to see what he has hidden there, such as the thermometer, the letters to spell 'penguin', the word coooooool, and 'ch, ch, ch'. I would then ask the group to come up with some other words we might want to use as he did in his poem. Penguindmills for windmills or penguinning for winning! After compiling a list of fun penguin wordplay words we might attempt to write a companion poem about penguins!

Reviews

From Booklist

K-Gr. 3. Florian continues his series of books that deal with animal life in all its permutations. These short poems often make their points in clever ways: "Lizards laze / And lizards bask. / What's their favorite food? / Don't ask!" Or "I'm not a seagull. / I'm royal. / I'm regal. / All birds are not / Created eagle." Not all the poems are so pithy, but there's plenty of humor throughout to keep kids going. However, children will need a certain sensibility to understand the wordplay. The artwork, which is simple enough for them to enjoy, always has unexpected bits. For instance, a painting of a shark--mouth open, teeth bared----is highlighted by a collage of what's inside his mouth: a tiny fan, a small pliers, and other miniature objects. A more sophisticated painting features a rhino--a swath of mauve filling up the frame, the animal's eyes and mouth barely distinguishable, a slash of white indicating its horn. The more astute the reader, the better the time he or she will have with this. But there are joys here for those who take the poems and pictures on face value as well. Ilene Cooper

"A first choice for the poetry shelves . . . this collection is toadally terrific."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Florian's distinctive, full-page watercolors are as playful as his verse."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature

Citation

Sidman, Joyce, and Beth Krommes. Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature. Boston : Houghton Miffling Harcourt, 2011.

Poetic Elements

What a unique representation of poetry we have in Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature! It is not a common occurrence that one poem, by itself, can fill a book so well on its own. This one, simple poem is gifted in its technical aspects and rich in both imagery and figurative language. The poet begins each thought, or what would be a stanza, with the phrase “...A spiral...”. This keeps the poem grounded, even as it expands from underground all the way up to space and back again. There is heavy alliteration of the letter 's' throughout with phrases such as “...spiral is a snuggling shape...spinning and sparkling...” and the spiral is heavily personified as it knows how to defend itself, explores the world, gathers buddies and stretches its arms. While there is no set rhyme or rhythm, this poem does better without it. The free verse, and the length of thought the poet gives to each spiral is just right. This is not a poem that is meant to rhyme.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The poem by itself is appealing to adults and children, but the illustrations add to the quality. The words of the poem begin small, as a snuggling shape. They then increase in size, breadth, and depth up to the largest of the stars and outer space, only to return to finish the poem, again, as a snuggling shape. There is closure, having come full circle (or spiral, if you will) in allowing the poem to follow such a journey. The tone is appealing and warm throughout, and the reader never feels like the poem has become too large for them to comprehend. Her style of writing keeps everything accessible and holds the reader in an adventurous mood as they travel and seek out spirals in so many different environments, including underground, the ocean, a flower garden, and outer space.

Layout

Given that the poem is spread out over the course of the entire book, the font of the words is larger and an increased emphasis is put upon the illustrations. Each stanza of the poem is spread over several pages, and on each page the author and illustrator have labeled the various items like flowers, animals, and sea creatures that have spirals. It expertly matches the words the poet is crafting to some of the subjects the poet is writing about. Carried out mostly in a color scheme of browns, greens, and yellows, each page is a visual wonderment as readers are invited to study the illustrations to find examples of spirals acting out the poet's words. The author includes an informational section at the back of the book that explains how several of nature's wonders use their spirals for various purposes. It takes each of the tag-lines from the poem “...is a snuggling shape...is a growing shape...is a strong shape...” and gives real-life examples of how these spirals play out in the world.

Spotlight Poem

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature

A spiral is a snuggling shape.

It fits neatly in small places.

Coiled tight, warm and safe, it waits...

...for a chance to expand.

A spiral is a growing shape.

It starts small

and gets bigger,

swirl by swirl.

It unwraps itself,

one soft curl at a time.

A spiral is a strong shape.

Its outer curves

protect what's inside.

It knows how to defend itself.

A spiral reaches out, too,

exploring the world.

It winds around and around...

...and clings tight, grasping what it needs.

It never has trouble holding on.

A spiral is a clever shape.

It is graceful and strong.

It is bold...

...and beautiful.

A spiral moves.

It swirls through water, gathering bubbles.

It twists through air with clouds on its tail.

It stretches starry arms through space,

spinning and sparkling, forever expanding...

...or, it curls up neat and small,

warm and safe.

A spiral is a snuggling shape.

Follow-Up Activity

Since the entire book is the poem I would use it as an introduction to a unit on habitats and adaptations. I would read the book to the class and invite them to study the illustrations for all of the animals, creatures, pieces of nature hiding in there. Then we would read it as a class, one stanza at a time (thought that may be spread out over several pages), and then, finally, I would have them work in small groups to take one of the stanzas and practice acting it out in front of the class. Then we would put it all together and have the entire class go, in order, to give a performance and reading of the poem.

Reviews

"The open-ended quality of the verse and the visual nature of the subject create plenty of opportunities for the art. The striking scratchboard illustrations use black lines, shapes, and crosshatched shading on white backgrounds to create strong compositions, while watercolor washes add subtle warmth and brilliance. . .There are, of course, many school uses for this, but just reading it aloud at home will make the everyday fascinating."—Booklist, starred review

"The observations, from a few words to a couple sentences, are tucked neatly into Krommes’s gorgeous scratchboard spreads."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Exquisitely simple and memorable."—Kirkus, starred review

"From the endpapers that gather together all the spirals depicted to the spiraling text on the title page verso, this book is elegantly constructed, and as poetry, picture book, or nonfiction, a success in every way."—The Horn Book, starred review

"This is one of those rare children’s books that make you look at the physical world differently. . .spirals are beautiful—whether we see in them hints of infinity, the promise of unfolding potential, or the embodiment of mathematical perfection."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Sky Magic

Citation

Hopkins, Lee Bennett, and Mariusz Stawarski. Sky Magic: Poems. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2009. ISBN: 0525476820 

Poetic Elements

This collection of poems compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins takes readers from sunrise to sunset and explores the intricacies and imaginings of various portions of our sky. The selected poems are beautiful and, though written each by a different poet, seem to meld together in a lovely read of our sun and sky. While there is no set rhyme scheme to the book, there are varying groupings of stanzas and verse, and a few of the poems utilize end rhyme in their style. Each brief free verse is rich in imagery. Some examples of simile are present in lines such as “...Like a fresh loaf, sun rises...” and “...pitched it like a fastball toward the sky...”. Metaphors are easy to pick out with “...I am the candle on your cake...I am the twinkle in your eye...”. Perhaps the most heavily used style element is personification. The moon, the sun, the stars are all given human qualities. In one poem, “...Moon writes a falling-into-dreams poem” and that same poem also describes “...spiders swaying...snails scribbling...”. The last line is also a prime example of alliteration. The senses are appealed to with various scenes of imagery such as the one describing the sunrise as a “...fresh loaf...golden crust” and how a boy, in holding the moon “...rubbed it with his thumb, and felt its silver coolness on his palm...”. The fact that Lee Bennett Hopkins selected such a diverse group of poets, all incredibly talented in their use of poetic elements and imagery, and put together such a fine collection of poetry speaks well to his own abilities to discern fine poetry.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The poems are highly consistent in their quality. They are each thoughtfully crafted and illustrated. There is a nice mix of new poets and more well-known poets, and the total effect of the poetry compilation is to make the sun, the moon, the sky itself something stimulating and interesting to read about. Who hasn't looked up into the sky and felt a sense of wonderment at the millions of stars, or awe at the beauty of a particular sunset? One of the poems in the book describes how a boy happens upon the moon, fallen out of the sky, and how the boy pitches it “like a fastball” back into the sky. The imagination of boys young and old can connect to that and the emotions of getting to hold the moon in your hand. Each poem evokes a different emotion or mood, whether meant to be fresh and awake, or calm and quiet.

Layout

This book is an anthology of poems that describe various aspects of the sky. In reading the table of contents you see that there are several contributions by notable poets such as Tennessee Williams and Carl Sandburg, but there are just as many poems by newer poets. The majority of the poems were reprinted with permission and have been published before. Each poem is spread out over two pages, and each beautiful, full-page illustration completes the words of the poem, whether through color scheme or varying hues. One poem in particular, called Song, talks on one side of the page about singing to the sun. On the other side of the page it talks about singing to the moon. The illustration for this poem was so striking to me. On the side that talked about singing to the sun the colors were warm shades of orange, yellow, and brown. The side describing singing to the moon was completed in blues, greys, and black. The thing I found most interesting about the illustration was that the picture was split right down the middle of the page, right down to the cruise ship that was smack in the middle of the illustration, half in sunlight and half in moonlight. I enoyed this book immensely, both for the quality of the poems and the connection of the illustrations to the words.

Spotlight Poem

Legends

In the language of stars

lie stories of old

brilliant legends

told; retold.

Spelling out sagas,

spilling out light,

a mythical manuscript

filling the night.

-Avis Harley

Follow-Up Activity

I would use this poem as an introduction to a unit on constellations, or even as an introduction to mythology. There is so much hidden in this poem about how constellations came to be named and who is represented amongst the stars. This would be a great opening to a discussion of what the students know and what they would like to know. Coincidentally, there are several other fabulous poems that could be used from this compilation. At the end of our unit on constellations or mythology I would encourage my students to write their own poem about someone who is represented amongst the stars.

Reviews

"This mesmerizing picture-book poetry compilation takes in the whole sky, from sunrise to the nighttime stars...each poem conveys the sense of wonder and awe people often feel when considering the cosmos..." --Horn Book, starred review

The Sun Is So Quiet

Citation

Giovanni, Nikki, and Ashley Bryan. The Sun Is So Quiet. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. 

ISBN: 0805041192

Poetic Elements

The summary of this book of poetry states that it is “a collection of poems primarily about nature and the seasons but also concerned with chocolate and scary movies”, and it is, additionally, a study in a variety of poetic elements. The poems themselves have varying rhythm patterns. Some of them are completely free verse while some follow an ABCB pattern and contain end rhyme. She uses alliteration thoughout her poetry, describing “prickled pickles” and boys as “stinky sticky slippery sweaty and sweet”. Her use of onomatopoeia in lines such as “snowflakes laughing” and “butterfly fluttering its wings...” add incredible depth to her works. Her sensory imagery is present throughout, whether it's tactile with the line “Blankets cover me when I'm asleep”, or kinesthetic with “snowflakes waltz around my ears..I twirl in rhythm to the dance”, or even auditory as she describes the wind “Whispering through...”.

Her use of figurative language is present throughout, with use of similes and heavy use of personification. One particular poem of hers describes quiet “...like the sound of a cumulus cloud floating by”, “...like a blue sky on a summer day”, and “...like a quilt on a feather bed”. She creates beautiful images with poetic phrases that describe stars that “...dance the ballet of the night...They pirouette and boogie down” and a snowflake that “...was happy and called its cousins”. Ms. Giovanni also uses repetition within her poems, either words, small phrases, or entire lines. This is present in the poem Connie with the word “...quiet”, in the poem November with the phrase “...kissing you”, and in The Stars with the line “...Occasionally they fall”.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The poems contained within this book are a wonderful study in technique, and I think that kids will appreciate the nature concepts. I found her poems to be a little more “work” for me to read, but once I did the work I could appreciate more fully what she had written. Her poetry is consistent in quality and style, especially in its lack of punctuation, the seemingly random capitalization, and the extended spacing between some lines and words. This is part of what makes her poetry so interesting. All of this comes together to represent various moods, such as the playfulness of spring, the peace that comes with sleep, the deep quiet of winter, and the wonderment of the stars in the sky.

Layout

The book follows a comfortable layout with a table of contents at the beginning and the poems themselves covering two pages each, in a combination of illustration and words layout. As stated above, Ms. Giovanni does use spacing as a technique in her poems, so they are spread out across the page, for effect, in some instances. Given that 12 of the 13 poems have been published previously it is the illustrations that give some new life and new interpretations to her words. The illustrations are done in gouache and rich tempera colors that depect African American children in various settings and serve to evoke warm feelings for the reader. While I think older students would be best suited to this book of poems, I think the younger students could appreciate the rich illustrations and poems when read by an adult with practice in reading Ms. Giovanni's poetry.

Spotlight Poem

Kisses

Flowers for hours

remain inert

but when the bees pass

they flutter and flirt

The bees come down

to steal a kiss

then off they fly

to some other miss

-Nikki Giovanni

Follow-Up Activity

I like this poem as an introduction to a science unit about insects, flowers, and pollination. It would be fun for a choral reading or for the students to act out. The words themselves sufficiently describe how pollination. From there perhaps the students could write poems about how the flowers grow with the sun's help, or how the roots grab hold in the garden. I could definitely see the incorporation of more poetry.

Reviews

"The bold, fluid lines of the gouache and tempera compositions make for a particularly eye-catching volume, just right for reeling in the read-aloud crowd and introducing them to the joys of poetry."

--Publishers Weekly

"Simple poems by the famous poet, Nikki Giovanni, are paired beautifully with colorful drawings that will pull the young reader into their magic.... A lovely first book of poems."

--Children's Literature

"The brilliant yellows, the vibrant patchwork quilts, and the shapeshifting snowflakes provide a visual feast."

--School Library Journal

Stampede! Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School

Citation

Salas, Laura Purdie, and Steven Salerno. Stampede!: Poems to Celebrate the Wild Side of School. New York: Clarion Books, 2009. ISBN: 0618914889

Poetic Elements

The author has put together a rousing collection of 18 poems that are full of imagery and figurative language in depicting various school scenarios with students represented as animals within the poems. In this appealing collection the poet's meaning varies by poem, and what I find so imaginative is how she captures so many different school experiences and some of the many moods a student might feel during the course of a day. The sense imagery used within, such as the “buzz, flitter-tumble” of the bees in one poem and the “clomping, stomping, splashing” of a hog in another will appeal to elementary-aged students, who relate well to onomatopoeia and similes. While the author makes use of end rhyme and follows an ABCB scheme almost exclusively, the emphasis on the last consonant gives each of the poems a fun, lyrical sound that lends itself to easy memorization by the students and replication of form should they decide to compose their own wild side poem.

Appeal and Overall Quality

The fact that this is a highly appealing collection of poetry is due as much to the illustrations as it is to the poems themselves. For one thing, the topic of school, and the varying scenes from a school day are all relatable to students. Whether it's the nervousness of being the new kid in school, the boisterous energy of heading out the door at the end of the day, or the anxiety one might feel when not adequately prepared for class, the poet has made them all relatable to students. Assigning a mouse to the new kid in school, the elephant heading out the door, and a turtle hiding when trying not to be seen are fitting comparisons that students will enjoy. The illustrations by Steven Salerno reflect the imagery created by the poet's words in bright, bold colors with pictures that are more cartoonish that realistic. Additionally, there is ample opportunity for discussion of these poems, discussing how emotions are expressed through words, asking for suggestions as to how else students might express that same emotion, and discovering examples of similes and figurative language.

Layout

Generally the poems are placed on a two page layout, which is fitting since the illustrations are as much a part of the experience. There are just three examples withinj the book where a two page spread has a different poem on facing pages. While it doesn't contain a table of contents or index, I don't think this particular collection needs one. It is, all together, a school day experience. The poems do not follow a beginning of the day to dismissal format. They are placed in a random order, just as students can quickly find themselves in a differing situation from 10 minutes ago. This is part of the charm of this collection.

Spotlight Poem

Swarm

We crowd the empty schoolyard,

a flood of bumblebees.

We buzz and flitter-tumble,

trade gossip on the breeze.

I brought a kickball-

want to play?

I wonder what's

for lunch today.

When the doors swing open wide,

we bumblebees all fly inside.

-Laura Purdie Salas

Follow-Up Activity

While my initial thought was to use the entire book with a class, reading through them and helping them find which animal they most related to, this assignment asked to pick just one. As such, I would pick Swarm. When I used to teach 2^nd grade my students called me Mrs. B. because my name was long, and I decorated with a bee theme. I would use this poem at the beginning of the day, as they come into the classroom. I could see the students coming up with their own rhymes for what the bumblebees are saying to eachother. Instead of “I brought a kickball-want to play? I wonder what's for lunch today.” they could work in pairs to come up with an alternate conversation. “I've got my jump rope-let's double dutch! It's time for reading and math and such!” I would like to see what they come up with on their own!

Reviews

From Booklist

No need to visit the zoo to see animals, young scholars—just look at your classmates. From the buzzing “bees” swarming over the playground to the starving pre-lunch “bear” with the rumbling tummy and the “blazing / cardinal, / winging / away” from the rumor of a crush, school is well populated with wild creatures. Salas captures 18 of them in very short, first-person rhymes, and like fugitives from The Island of Dr. Moreau, the children in Salerno’s supple, loosely drawn cartoon illustrations sport an array of evocative animal ears, tails, patterned clothes, and altered facial features. The wild verses are positively shot through with simile and metaphor, and young readers will run just as rampant, flocking to these pitch-perfect portrayals of their peers and selves.