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2002-04-12This collection of poems is a language lover's dream! It is a juggler throwing words up in the air just to see how they come down again, only to be caught, and returned to the air.
This is a book that will not allow you to sit still. Children will catch the excitement of poetry as well. May they run with it and have a blast!
this is a great book 2002-04-11
I love this book. It is my favorite book ever. I dont think you need to understand the poems in order to enjoy them. I really recommend it
Buyers should beware of reader criticisms 2002-02-27
Readers who state that concrete poetry is too advanced for children are unaware of how stilted that thinking is. If the children were writing the criticisms, you would surely get a different view.
Poetry does not exist to be "gotten" (or understood) by it's readers, or pigeon-holed into one interpretation. Do not underestimate the capacity of a child to comprehend a poet's message. This book is a wonderful opportunity for children to learn to love and appreciate poetry. Children learn to write by using a combination of writing and drawing (driting). So this book is the perfect segway into a genre that many children never learn to appreciate, because it is force-fed to them from the beginning as something that has one purpose. They are led to believe the goal of reading poetry is to discover "the meaning," and in the process the joy is taken away. Maybe that is why so many adults cannot appreciate poetry. They do not know how. This thinking is not a way to promote literacy.
If you want poems that are dumbed-down to meet what you think a child can appreciate about poetry at an early age, then do not buy this book.
Otherwise, do your child an incredible favor and allow them to explore, at their own pace, this book and this genre.
playing with poetry and form! 2002-01-04
Concrete poems are different from other poems, as the editor Mr. Janeczko notes at the beginning of "A Poke in the I". In many cases, the poems type font or the way it is laid out on the page determines the poem. Many of the poems take a specific shape in the way they're laid out on the page. For example, a beautiful poem called "Eskimo Pie" is in the shape of that frozen desert, with the words themselves forming the arched top and "stick". Some poems rotate around in spirals or take the shape of animals. Some poems leap around the page and it is the words themselves that show the action of the poem.
While many poems could stand alone by themselves, Mr. Raschka has given them all additional illustrations. His illustration style of broad lines, bright colors and bold patterns in the manner of Eric Carle augments each poem beautifully whether it's about rain softly falling, a danelion blowing in the wind or two people watching a train go by.
It is, of course, singularly difficult to review a book of this type because it's impossible to duplicate the exact layout of these poems which stretch, splish and splash across the pages. To put the poems into single lines stacked on top of one another in word-processor format would be to ruin them and take all the fun out of this splendid work. You therefore have to see them in all their glory on the page with Mr. Raschka's illustrations.
I've used this book a few times in my own classroom to inspire students who are less than enthusiastic about writing poetry. Making concrete poetry (or "form poetry" as I called it in school) offers readers and students a different perspective on what is often considered a mundane form of writing. A lot of fun and highly recommended!
Not for little kids 
2001-12-06
This book is not for little kids. I ordered it for my four-year-old cousin, but after seeing the book I would rather return it than give it to him. He is a good reader and has a very good vocabulary, but I don't think he would "get" most of the poems. I also think that the visual effects created by many of the the poems are too subtle for a child.
Perfect for an ElementaryTeaching a Poetry Unit 2008-03-10
This is a great book for student who may need some inspiration for writing poetry. It is funny and hooks a kid in just with the title. We used several of the poems as models for our own poems and I prooved that everyone can write a poetry. I teacher must have!
My daughter made me...She is only 11 so she could not post herself. 2007-05-13
She says the following:
This book has great poems. My favorite poem out of all poems that exist is from "A Poke In The I."
A lot better than getting poked in the eye 2007-03-06
This book is delightful. The concrete poems are good and the illustrations really add to the overall impact of the book. I use this book as a teaching tool. It has a great overview of what a concrete poem is and talks distinguishes between some of the types of concrete poems.
My daughter loved this 2007-02-27
We borrowed this book from the library, and now I am purchasing it online. I found it interesting, but my daughter who is 8 is really captivated by it. I think it will help open the doors to the world of poetry for her.
Hard to Read 
2006-10-28
I found the idea of reprositioning the words to attract the reader interesting! However, I found some of these too difficult to READ! The "Skipping Rope Spell" by John Agard is fun and "Whee" by Robert Froman is exciting and brings back great memories of flying down a hill on a sled in Massachusetts where I spent my childhood! However, "Cat Chair" and "Stowaway" leave me cold. "Merging Traffic"
is so clever, It makes me think "I wish I had thought of that"! "Eskimo Pie" and "Popsicle" are cute to look at but haven't any punctuation! "Shadow and Swan" and "Forsythia" are too difficult to bother reading. This is just my opinion and someone else might love it but I didn't!
